Skip to main content

Full text of "The library of American biography"

See other formats 


This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project 
to make the world's books discoverable online. 

It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject 
to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books 
are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover. 

Marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the 
publisher to a library and finally to you. 

Usage guidelines 

Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the 
public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we have taken steps to 
prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying. 

We also ask that you: 

+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for 
personal, non-commercial purposes. 

+ Refrain from automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine 
translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the 
use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help. 

+ Maintain attribution The Google "watermark" you see on each file is essential for informing people about this project and helping them find 
additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it. 

+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just 
because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other 
countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of 
any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner 
anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liability can be quite severe. 

About Google Book Search 

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers 
discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web 



at |http : //books . google . com/ 



p^- 



1 II 




U£:!lsu2 




i 



i V 



OF 
CON Die TED HY 




J D S E !' >j Ti EEL : 



l:f).-^'lM.).\ 



THE 



LIBRARY 



OF 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



CONDUCTED 

Bt jared sparks. 



SSCOND SERIES. 



VOL. VIII. 



BOSTON: 
CHARLES C. LITTLE AND JAMES BROWN. 

1848. 



Entered according to act of CongreM, in the year 1846, by 
Cmarlbi C. Littli aitd Jambs Broww, 
in the Clerk'i oAce of the District Coiut of the Diatrict of 1 



LIBRARY OF THE 
LELAND STANFORD JR. UtJfVERSITY. 

MAR 29 1900 



•TaaaoTTvao at run 
BosTOir rm ahd tTaaaoTrra rovnvmr. 



LIVES 



OF 



CHARLES LEE 



AND 



JOSEPH REED. 



BOSTON: 
CHARLES C. LITTLE AND JAMES BROWN. 

1848. 



Entered aeeording to act of Goagrets, in the year 1846, by 

CHAnLBS O. LlTTLB AITD JAMaS BkOWW, 

in tlie ClerlL'f office oftlie District Court of the District of Massachotetta. 



•TaasoTrniD at thb 
BotTov rm AHD tTnanoTrFB roviroaT. 



CONTENTS. 



LIFE OF CHARLES LEK 

BT JARED SPARKS. 

Fife. 

Prrface 3 

CHAPTER I. 

Birth and Education. — Joins the Army, — Cam- 
paigns in America during the Drench War, — 
Wounded in the Attack upon Ticonderoga under 
General Ahercromhy. — Aids in the Conquest of 
Niagara and Montreal. — Returns to Europe. 

— Writes a Pamphlet in Favor of retaining 
Canada at the Peace. — Engaged in a Camr 
paign in Portugal. — Successful Action at 

ViUa Velha 5 

CHAPTER n. 

Projects a Plan for a Colony on the Ohio River. 

— Writes on the Affairs of the Colonies. — 
Goes to Poland^ amd becomes Aidrde-Camp to 
the King Stanislaus. — Visits Constantinople. 

— Returns to England. — His Remarks on 
Politics and public Men. — Disappointed in 
his Hope of Promotion. — Returns to Poland 

by Way of Paris and Vienna 19 



▼1 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER III. 

Appointed a Majar-General in the Polish Army, 

— Enters the Russian Service, and performs 
a Campaign against the Turks. — Travels 
through Hungary to Italy, — Returns to Eng- 
land by Way of Minorca and Gibraltar, . 38 

CHAPTER IV. 

His Sentiments and Writings on political Sulh- 

jects, — A resolute Friend and Defender of 

Liberty. — The Authorship of the Letters of 

Junius ascribed to him. — Discitssion of that 

Question 47 

CHAPTER V. 

Arrives in America. — Travels in the Middle 
and Eastern Provinces. — Letters to General 
Gage and Lord Percy. — In Philadelphia at 
the Sitting of the first Continental Congress, 

— Dr. Myles Cooper's Pamphlet. — Lee^s An^ 
swer, — His Account of the political State of 
the Colonies, — Embraces with Ardor the Cause 
of the Americans, — Visits Maryland and Vir- 
ginia, — Purchases an Estate in Virginia, , 57 

CHAPTER VI. 

Lee appointed Mc^or-General in the American 
Army, — Proceeds with Washington to the 
Camp at Cambridge, — His Reception by the 
Massachusetts Congress, — Correspondence with 



CONTENTS. TU 

Oeneral Burgoyne. — Assists in reorganizing 
the Army. — Goes to Newport, — Administers 
an Oath to the Tories 75 

CHAPTER Vn. 

Tidces the Command in New York, — Alarm of 
the Inhabitants. — Enters the City toith TVoops 
from Connecticut. — His Plan of Defence. — 
Fortifies the City. — Takes Measures for seiz- 
ing the Tories. — Appointed to the Command 
in Canada, and subsequently to that of the 
southern Department 93 

CHAPTER Vin. 

Proceeds to Virginia. — His Operations against 
Lord Dunmore, — Constructs armed Boats for 
the Rivers. — Recommends the Use of Spears. 
— Attempts to form a Body of Cavalry. — 
Advises the Seizure of Governor Eden. — /n- 
tercepted Letters unfold the Plan of the Ene^ 
my. — Removal of disaffected Persons. — Let' 
ter to Patrick Henry y urging a Declaration of 
Independence. — Enemy land in North Caro- 
Una. — He marches to meet them, and advances 
to South Carolina 107 

CHAPTER IX. 

Takes Command of the Troops in South Caro- 
lina. — Preparations for Defence. — Affair 
at Fort Moultrie. — British retire from Caro- 
lina. — General Lee marches to Georgia. — 



VIU CONTENTS. 

Plans an Expedition against East Florida, 
— Recalled to the North by Congress, — 
Joins the main Army at Haerlem Heights. — 
Marches to White Plains, — Washington 
crosses the Hudson, and Lee left in Command 
of the Eastern Troops at White Plains. . 136 

CHAPTER X. 

Ordered to cross the Hudson and join the Army 
under Washington, — His Dispute with Gen- 
eral Heath. — Marches into New Jersey, — 
Dilatory in obeying Orders. — Gestured by 
the Enemy at Bashingridge. — Held as a 
Deserter y and closely confined, — Washington 
threatens Retaliation, — Allowed the Privilege 
of Parole. — Exchanged. — Resumes his Com- 
mand in the Army at Valley Forge, ... 141 

CHAPTER XI. 

Battle of Monmouth. — Lee opposes a general 
Action in a Council of War, — Takes Com- 
mand of the advanced Division, — Engages 
the Enemy, — Retreats, — Interview with 
Washington 164 

CHAPTER Xn. 

Correspondence between Lee and Washington, — 
Lee^s Arrest. — Charges. — Trial by a Court' 
Martial, — Remarks on the Testimony ^ and on 
the Decision of the Court 165 



CONTENTS. IX 

CHAPTER Xni. 

Decision of the Court-Martial laid before Con^ 
gress. — Confirmed, after much Delay. — Lee 
retires to his Estate in Virginia, — His Man- 
ner of Life, — Writes Political and MiUtary 
Queries, — Wa^hingtonh Remarks on them. 

— Lu resigns his Commission in the Army, 
which is accepted by Congress 179 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Continues to reside at his Estate, — Engages in 
political Discussions, — Freedom of the Press, 

— Visits Baltimore and Philadelphia, — His 
Death. — Remarks on his Character, and on 
some of the Incidents of his Life 196 



LIFE OF JOSEPH REED. 

BY HENRf REED. 

Preface 211 

CHAPTER I. 

Birth and Parentage. — Education, — Study of 
the Law. — Influences of the Times, — Visit 
to England in 1763. — Student in the Middle 
Temple. — Public Affairs in England and 
America. — Dennis de Berdt. — Return to 



X CONTENTS. 

America in 1765. — Visit to Boston in 1769. 

— Second Visit to England in 1770. — Mar' 
riage, — Return to America, — Removal to 
Philadelphia 213 

CHAPTER II. 

Mr, ReecPs Correspondence with the Earl of Dart' 
mouth, — Arrival of the Tea Ship, — Post' 
Office. — Courts of Admiralty, — Dr, Prank' 
lin and Wedderbum, — Boston Port BiU, — 
Popular Meetings in Philadelphia, — Pennsylr 
vania Party Politics, — Provincial Convention. 

— Continental Congress. — Reed's first Ao- 
quaintance with Washington 232 

CHAPTER III. 

Correspondence with Lord Dartmouth continued, 
— Josiah Quincyj Junior. — Philadelphia Com- 
mittee. — Meeting of the Assembly. — Reed, 
President of tlie Provincial Convention, — 
Close of the Dartmouth Correspondence. . . 258 

CHAPTER IV. 

Appointed Military Secretary to Washington, — 
Campaign at Cambridge, — Return to PMla- 
delphia. — Washington's Correspondence, — 
Pennsylvania Politics, — Reed elected to the 
Assembly, — Constitution of 1776. — Opinions 
on the Subject of Independence 281 



COMTSNTS. U 

CHAPTER V. 

Appointed hy Omgress Adjutant-Oeneral of the 
On^neiUai Army. ^- Campaign in New York. 

— Arrival of Lord Howe. — Letter of Robert 
Morris. — Interviews with Officers bearing 
Flags of Truce. — Conference between Wash" 
ington and Colonel Patefson, the British Ae§u^ 
tant'OeneroL — MtUtary Plans. — Reeds Lei" 
ters toshis Wife 302 

CHAPTER VI. 

Landing of the British Army on Long Island. 

— Battle of Long Island. — Retreat from 
Brooklyn. — Washington's Description of his 
Army. — Reeds Letters 325 

CHAPTER VII. 

Landing of the British Advance Chiard on New 
York Island. — Evacuation of New York. — 
Skirmish of the I7th September, 1776.— Death 
of KnowUon and of Leitch. — Condition of the 
Army. — Loss of Fort Washington, and Re- 
treat into New Jersey. — Correspondence with 
Charles Lee^ and Misunderstanding with 
Washington 336 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Military Operations in New Jersey. — Reeds 
Letter of the 22c? December; Washington's 
of the SUM.— Attempt to cross the Delaware at 



Xii CONTENTS. 

Dunks^s Ferry, — Battle of Trenton. — Pas- 
sage of the Delaware above Bristol, — Reed 
goes to Trenton, — Cc^ture of the British 
Chasseurs near Princeton, — Battle of Prince- 
ton. — Reeds Letter to Putnam 352 

CHAPTER IX. 

Elected Brigadier-Oeneral hy Congress, — Ap- 
pointed Brigadier of Cavalry hy Washington, 

— Appointed Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, — 
Declines the Appointment, — Rejoins the Army 
as a Volunteer, — Elected to the Continental 
Congress. — Battle of Germantoum, — Canton- 
ment at Whitemarsh. — Military Councils. — 
'Reeds Plan of Attack on New York. — Skir 
mish of the 6th of December, 1777 373 

CHAPTER X. 

Reelected to Congress. — Commissioner for In- 
dian Affairs. — Committee to go to Camp. — 
Valley Forge, — Prevalent Disaffection in the 
Neighborhood of Philadelphia, — Refugee Offi- 
cers, — Defence of Persons and Property from 
their Attacks. — Reeds Letters on the Subject. 

— Takes his Seat in Congress. — Returns to 
Valley Forge. — Arrival of British Commis- 
sioners, — Governor Johnstone. — Mrs. Fergu- 
son, — Attempt at Bribery, — Reeds Answer. 

— Battle of Monmouth, — Return to Con- 
gress. — Professionally engaged in Trials for 
Treason 397 



CONTENTS. ZUI 

CHAPTER XI. 

Elected President of Pennsyhania. — Reelected. 
— Politics of the State. — Prosecution of 
Arnold. — Difficulties and Measures of the 
Administration, — Abolition Act. — Death of 
his Wife. — Revolt of the Pennsylvania Line. 
— Retirement from Office, i — Again visits Eng' 
land. — Return to America. — Election to Con^ 
gress. — Death 418 



L I JB E 



CHARLES LEE, 



ICAJOR-<}ENERAL IN THE ARMY OF THE REVOLUTION; 



1ARED SPARKS. 



TOi** vni. 



PREFACE^ 



Afteb the death of General Lee, his papenr 
fell into the hands of Mr. William Goddard, of 
Baltimore, and have since been preserved in hiv 
family. He issued proposals for publishing def- 
lected parts of them in three volumes ; but, for 
some reason not explained, this design was never 
fulfilled. A few years afterwards, Mr. Lang- 
wortny published a brief selection in a small 
volume, to which an imperfect Memoir of his 
life was prefixed. Recently, another Memoir, 
more valuable and interesting, has appeared in 
England, from the pen of Sir Henry Bunbury. 

In addition to these sources, the writer of the 
following sketch has been favored by Mr. Wil- 
liam G. Goddard with the use of the original 
papers left by General Lee. Among these are 
letter-books containing his ofiicial correspondence 
during a large part of the period of his public 
service in the revolution ; and also many drafts 
of letters written in England, Poland, Italy, and 
other countries, before he came to America. 
Access has likewise been had to his correspond 



4 PREFACE. 

ence with Congress, General Washington, and the 
prominent leaders in the civil and military lines, 
while he resided in America. To the kindness 
of Sir Henry Bunbury the writer is indebted for 
a copy of more than thirty of General Lee's 
letters to his sister ; and his particular acknowl- 
edgments are due to Captain Ralph R. Worme- 
ley, R. N., of London, and Mn William B. 
Reed, of Philadelphia, for the generous aid they 
have rendered in enabling him to procure other 
materials. 



CHARLES LEE 



CHAPTER I. 



Birth and Education. — Joins the Army. — Giiii- 
patgns in America during the French War. — 
Wounded in the Attack upon Ticonderoga under 
General Ahercromby, — Aids in the Conquest of 
Niagara and Montreal, — Returns to Europe. 
— Writes a Pamphlet in Favor of retaining 
Canada at the Peace. — Engaged in a Cam- 
paign in Portugal. — Successful Action at Villa 
Velha. 

Among those distinguished in the American 
revolution, few began their career with bright- 
er prospects, or closed it under a darker cloud, 
than General Charles Lee. Endowed with un- 
common abilities, possessing a chivalrous spirit, 
a soldier of long experience and undaunted cour- 
age, a true friend of liberty and of the rights of 
mankind, he engaged in the caude with an ardor, 
which gained for him at once the confidence and 
raised high the hopes of the whole people. But 



6 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

these eminent qualities were shaded by a way- 
wardness of temper, a rashness of resolution, a 
license of speech, an eager ambition, and an 
eccentricity of manners, which defeated his own 
lofty purposes, and disappointed the expectations 
of those, who received him as a friend, and hailed 
him as a benefactor. It would be ungrateful to 
say, that he did not render to this country, in the 
time of her trial, important services ; it would be 
futile to deny, that, by his indiscretion and ill- 
timed vehemence, he contributed much to di- 
minish the respect, which these services might 
vOtherwise claim. He was alike the artificer of 
the envied reputation which he enjoyed at one 
period of his life, and of the misfortunes that 
cast a gloom over its close. 

Charles Lee was a native of England, the 
youngest son of General John Lee, of Dernhall, 
in Cheshire. His mother was Isabella, the sec- 
ond daughter of Sir Henry Bunbury, of Stan- 
ney, in the same county. He was born in 1731, 
«nd from childhood was destined to the profession 
of arms, having received a commission at eleven 
-years of age. Little is known of his early educa- 
tion aad discipline. For some time he was placed 
at the grammar school of Bury St. Edmunds, and 
^Iso at a school in Switzerland, where, in addi- 
tion to the Latin and Greek classics, he obtained 
a thorough knowledge of the French language 



CHARLES LEE* 7 

Whatever advantages he may have enjoyed, 
his subsequent writings prove that he turned them 
to good account. Ardent, ambitious, and of ex- 
ceedingly quick parts, he pursued with avidity 
whatsoever he took in hand. His reading was 
extensive, and not confined in its range or in the 
subjects to which it was directed. By study, and 
by his rambles in various countries, he acquired a 
competent skill in the Spanish, Italian, and Ger- 
man tongues. Among his papers are many frag- 
ments, in his own handwriting, in Latin, French, 
and Italian, showing that the use of these lan- 
guages was familiar to him. In short, his educa- 
tion, as qualifying him for the practical afiairs of 
life, would seem to have been not inferior to that 
of many, who go through the more regular forms 
of a university course. 

As the time approached for entering upon the 
active duties of his profession, he devoted much 
attention to the science of military tactics. At 
the age of twenty-four we find him at the head 
of a company of grenadiers. The long war, 
which severed Canada from the French power, 
was just at this time breaking out, and the young 
officer was destined to gain his first experience in 
arms on the frontiers of the American colonies. 

For the campaign of 1757, the British ministry 
formed the grand project of taking Louisburg, the 
Gibraltar of America, which had been captured, 



8 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

during the last war, chiefly by an expedition from 
New England, but inconsiderately given back to 
the French at the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. It 
was now determined to recover this formidable 
fortress. Early in the spring, the troops for the 
expedition were drawn together in the neighbor- 
hood of Cork, in Ireland, and vessels of war and 
transports were assembled for their embarkation 
at that port. The regiment to which Lee be- 
longed was destined to take a part in this enter- 
prise. A large fleet, consisting of ships of the 
line, frigates, and transports, with five thousand 
troops, sailed from the harbor of Cork on the 8th 
of May. The fleet kept together twelve days, 
when it was separated by a fog, and again by a 
storm; but all the vessels arrived at Halifax in 
the early part of July. They were here joined 
by six thousand men from New York, and all the 
preliminary measures were adopted without delay 
for the grand object of the expedition. 

Intelligence was soon received, however, that 
the French had thrown so strong a force into 
Louisburg, and guarded it by so many heavy 
ships, that it was inexpedient to hazard an attack. 
And thus the scheme, which had begun with 
such a vast array of preparation, was deferred 
till the next year. 

Meantime, the troops were employed at Hali- 
fax, and in other garrisons of Nova Scotia ; but 



CHARLES LEfT. 9 

in the early part of the following year, a large 
detachment of this army was sent to New York. 
It is uncertain whether Lee accompanied these 
troops, or preceded them ; but he was in New 
York and Philadelphia early in the spring of 
1758, and in the following June we find him 
stationed with a part of the army at Schenectady. 
Some time after he left England, he purchased a 
company in the forty-fourth regiment, for which 
he paid nine hundred pounds. 

While at Schenectady, he had much intercourse 
with the Mohawk Indians, and was captivated by 
their manners, their ** hospitable, civil and friend- 
ly '' deportment, the personal beauty of many of 
them, their dress, their graceful carriage, and by 
what he calls their good breeding, or " constant 
desire to do everything that will please you, and 
strict carefulness not to say or do anything that 
may offend you.*' He became so great a favorite 
with them, that he was adopted into the tribe of 
the Bear, under the name of Ounewaterika, 
which signifies boiling water, or one whose spirits 
are never asleep. By this adoption, among other 
marks of distinction, he acquired the privilege of 
smoking a pipe in their councils.* 

But he was not destined long to enjoy these 
honors. His regiment was ordered to march to 

• MS. Letter dated at Schenectady, June 18th, 1758 



10 AMJSBICAN BIOGBAPHY;. 

Fort William Henry, at the south end of Lake 
George; and, by the 1st of July, ten thousand 
provincials and six thousand regular troops were 
assembled at that place, under the command of 
General Abercromby. Then followed the mem- 
orable assault on Ticonderoga, in which the 
English were repulsed with a heavy loss, the 
gallant Lord Howe was killed, and Stark and 
other provincial officers gave proofs of the spirit 
and valor, that were to be called to a severer 
trial at a future day. 

Lee was wounded while bravely attempting to 
penetrate to the French breastworks. In a 
letter to a friend, written a few days after the 
action, he says, " It is with the greatest difficulty 
that I make out a few lines to you, as I have re- 
ceived a very bad wound in the side, which has, 
I believe, broken some of my ribs, and rendered 
it almost impossible for me to raise myself from 
my bed." He then describes the principal opera- 
tions of the army from the time it left Fort WilUam 
Henry, in more than a thousand boats launched 
cm the waters of Lake George, till it returned 
from this disastrous expedition. According to 
his belief, and, he says, the belief of the other 
officers, the disgraceful failure was owing to the 
weakness and cowardice of the General, who 
left the troops exposed in a hopeless conffict 
without orders for five hours in front of the lines 



CHARLES LEE. 11 

of Ticonderoga, and who retreated precipitately 
up Lake George with the whole army, when he 
might have renewed the assault with a moral 
certainty of success.* 

Lee, with other wounded officers, was removed 
to Albany, where he remained till his wound was 
healed. He was next stationed on Long Island, 
at which place he probably continued through the 
winter. In this encampment he was led into an 
adventure, which might have ended in fatal con- 
sequences. A person, whom he calls "a little 

• In the same letter he pays the following tribute to that 
gallant yonng officer, Lord Howe, who was killed in a skir- 
mish at the head of an advancing column, the day before 
the attack on Ticonderoga. " Very few men were lost on 
oar side, in this skirmish ; but among tliese few was the 
most estimable Lord Howe, whose only fault was that of 
not knowmg his own value. In short, tiie loss of him was 
BO great, tiiat it would not be rant or exaggeration to ez 
claim, as Antony does on Cesar's death; 

' O, what a fall was there, my countrymen ! 
Then I, and you, and all of us fell down/ 

It was entirely owing to his activity and industry, that every- 
tiiing was in readiness at so much an earlier season of the 
year than usual ; it was owing to his weight, consequence, 
and spirit, that the General was kept from following the 
dictates of his weak and despicable managers solely 
and implicitly, as he did afterwards ; and it is most certain, 
that had he lived, tlie public would not have suffered this 
loss, nor our arms have been disgraced in this manner" 
MS.LdUr. 



12 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

cowardly surgeon," treated him very ill, com- 
posing a libel on him, and reading it to the 
General. The affront drew from Lee a severe 
chastisement. The surgeon had not the spirit to 
resent it in the way usually practised by military 
men, when points of honor are concerned. He 
placed himself in a road where he knew Lee was 
to pass, seized the bridle of his horse, presented a 
pistol at his breast, and fired. At that instant 
the horse started to the right, and Lee escaped 
with a contusion on his body. The ruffian drew 
another pistol, but it was struck from his hand 
by Captain Dunbar, who happened to be pres- 
ent. The affair was settled afterwards, by the 
consent of Lee and Dunbar, on condition that 
the culprit should make a public acknowledgment 
of his crime and leave the army.* 

The next campaign was performed by the 
regiment to which Lee belonged in the expedi- 
tion against the French garrison at Niagara. 
The place was invested by two thousand British 
troops, and one thousand Indians of the Six 
Nations, under General Prideaux. After a siege 
of nineteen days, and a sharp action with a 
body of French and Indians, who were coming as 
a reenforcement, in which the English were vic- 
torious, the garrison capitulated. The conquest 

* MS. Letter, dated at Long Island, December 7th, 1758 



CHARLES LEE. 13 

was very important, since it cut off the channel 
of intercourse between the French in Canada 
and Louisiana, and threw into the hands of the 
English the entire control of the upper lakes. 
Captain Lee was much exposed during the en- 
gagement with the French and Indians, and two 
balls grazed his hair. 

Soon after the capitulation, Lee was sent with 
another officer and fourteen men to ascertain 
what became of the remnant of the French army 
that escaped from the battle. They were the 
first English troops that ever crossed Lake Erie. 
They went to Presq' Isle, and thence by way of 
Venango down the western branch of the Ohio 
to Fort Duquesne, which was then in possession 
of the British. He remained there but a short 
time, when he began a long march of seven 
hundred miles to meet General Amherst at Crown 
Point. From this place he performed another 
march to Oswego, and was then ordered to Phila- 
delphia, where he was stationed through the 
winter on the. recruiting service.* 

In the campaign of 1760, Lee's regiment was 
attached to the forces led by General Amherst 
from Lake Ontario down the St. Lawrence to 
Montreal, a navigation never before undertaken 
by a British army. The surrender of Montreal 

* MS. Letter, dated at Philadelphia, March Ist, 1760. 



Hf AMERICAN BIOOBAPHT. 

completed the conquest of Canada, so noUf 
begun the year before by Wolfe on the Plaiiiv 
of Abraham, and closed the war in America^ 
Lee soon afterwards returned to England. 

Thig brief sketch has been given, not with a' 
view of illustrating the personal conduct or mili- 
tary merit of the young caplain of grenadiers; 
there are no materials for a narrative of this kind ; ' 
in his letters he speaks little of his own adverw 
tures ; but these four years of unremitted service, 
during which his days and nights were wholly 
psfssed in camps or in the field, must have fur* 
nished a mind like his with most valuable lessons 
of experience as an officer, and inured him to the 
habits and privations of a soldier's life.* 

Canada .being now conquered, and the war 
drawing to a close, the terms of peace began to 
be warmly discussed by different parties in Eng« 
land. One party was for restoring Canada tO' 
the French, and taking Guadaloupe and other 

* General Armstrong relates the following anecdote of 
Lee in his Life of Montgomay. When the British finally 
captured Loaisburg, in 1758, a bomb thrown from the fort 
knocked off the hat and grazed the akull of General Law- 
rence, who was standing in the trenches, but without 
serioosly injuring tarn. When Lee heard of this incident, 
he exclaimed, "111 resign to-morrow." "Why so?" asked 
the person to whom he spoke. "Because," said the wit, 
"none but a fool will remain in a service in which the 
genenis* heads are bomb-prooT' 



CHARLES LEE. 15 

posaesBions in the West Indies as an equivalent 
This scheme was defended by the able and elo- 
quent pen of Burke. On the other side, Frank- 
Hn urged, with singular clearness and force of 
reasoning, the policy of holding Canada. In the 
course of the controversy, Charles Lee is said to 
have entered the lists in defence of the same 
policy, and to have written a pamphlet which 
received the commendation of Franklin.* 

Meantime, Lee was promoted to the rank of 
Lieutenant-Colonel, and was soon called again 
into active service. Spain had committed hos* 
tilities upon PcH'tugal, and threatened to over- 

* It has been supposed, that Lee wrote the tract entitled 
*<C(msideiations on the Importance of Canada, and the Bay 
snd River of St Lawrence," published in London, 1759. 
The style of this performance, however, bears no resem- 
Uanee to that of the writings known to have come from his 
pen. Moreover, the dedication to Mr. Pitt, prefixed to the 
pn^let, is dated ** London, October 17th, 1759," at which 
time Lee was probably in America. 

The conjecture that he wrote <^A Letter to an Honorable 
Brigadiep-General, Ck>mmander-in-chief of bis Majesty's 
Foices in Canada," published in 1760, is m(»e probable. 
The s^le bears strong marks of his peculiar vein and man- 
ner^ and the sentiments accord with those which he ex- 
pwwnod on other occasions. It is a severe and pungent 
philipfMC against General Townshend, who assumed the 
command after the death of Wolfe, and who, in his public 
despatches, was more brief in his praises of the immortal 
hero of the Plains of Abraham, than his extraordinary merits 



16 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

whelm that country with her armies, mainly to 
compel this latter power to join France and 
Spain in their war against England. For a long 
time, a treaty of peace and amity had existed 
between England and his Portuguese Majesty, 
and he could see no reason why he should violate 
his faith, and desert an old friend, for the sake 
of embroiling himself in the quarrels of his 
neighbors, in which he had no concern. In this 
state of things, his Britannic Majesty could do no 
less than sustain the cause of an ally, who had 
thus continued faithful to his pledges. An army 
of eight thousand men was despatched to Portu- 



and services justly required. In one of his letters written 
from America a few months after this event, Lee says, 
« What an irreparable loss was that glorious hero, Wolfe ! 
and such frankness, such unbounded generosity to particu- 
lars, such zeal for the public, with such amazing talents for 
war, that not to be in raptures with this divine character, is, 
I think, an impiety to our country, which gave him birth. 
General Townshend seems to have been sparing of his 
eulogiums upon the fallen conqueror, on whom (as the 
whole glory of this mighty acquisition was conferred on him 
by the unanimous voice of the army) he seems to have 
looked with an invidious eye. Such is the fate of supericHr, 
unrivalled merit in our contemporaries." The pamphlet 
mentioned above has been recently reprinted in London, 
with an Introduction by Mr. Simons, in which he attempts to 
prove that it was written by Juinus. His proofs are con- 
jectural, and will apply with equal or greater force to 
General Lee. 



CHARLES LEE. 17 

gal, commanded at first by Lord Tyrawley, and 
afterwards by the Earl of Loudoun. Among the 
other officers were Brigadier-General Burgoyne 
and Colonel Charles Lee. 

Before the arrival of these troops, the Spaniards 
had passed the frontiers of Portugal, committed 
depredations, and made themselves masters of 
several important cities. The combined English 
and Portuguese armies were at length put under 
the command of the Count de la Lippe, who had 
won a brilliant reputation in the German wars. 
After various manoeuvres and battles, the Span- 
iards were checked in their progress, and, at the 
end of the campaign, they retired within their 
own borders. Lee acquitted himself honorably 
during this service, and on one occasion gained 
distinguished applause. 

He was under the immediate command of 
General Burgoyne, who was stationed on the 
south bank of the River Tagus, opposite to the 
old Moorish castle of Villa Velha. This castle, 
and the village and plains around it, were occu- 
pied by the Spaniards. Discovering that a large 
part of their forces had been drawn off, Burgoyne 
formed a plan of attacking those that remained, 
which were posted on two small hills near the 
castle ; and he intrusted the execution of the 
enterprise to Colonel Lee. 

After encountering considerable difficulty in 
VOL. yiii. 2 



id AMERICAN BIOGBAPHT. 

fording the river with a detachment of infantry 
and cavalry, concealed from the enemy by the 
darkness of the night, he continued his march 
through intricate passes in the mountains, gained 
the enemy's rear undiscovered, and at two o'clock 
m the morning rushed into their camp. A sharp 
conflict ensued. The grenadiers charged with 
the bayonet, and the dragoons harassed the 
bewildered Spaniards in their attempts to escape. 
They fought with courage, however, and made 
such resistance as they could. Several Spanish 
officers were killed while endeavoring to rally the 
men, and among them a brigadier-general. A 
body of horse collected and presented a bold 
froEit, but they were repulsed by the British 
cavahry. Before the dawn of day, the victory 
was achieved, and the enemy was routed in all 
quarters, leaving many slain and a large booty 
in the hands of the victors. The magazines 
were destroyed, four cannon were spiked, and 
nmeteen prisoners, with sixty artillery mules, a 
few horses, and a quantity of valuable bag- 
gage, were conducted to the General's camp. 
This spirited achievement took place on the 
6th of October, 1762. Lord Loudoun, in his 
report to the ministry, called it a " very gallant 
action ; " and the Count de la Lippe said, in a 
letter to the Earl of Egremont, ^<so brilliant a 
alroke speaks 6x itself." 



CHARLES LEE. 19 

Weary of the war, all the belligerents weie 
now ready for peace. The strife ended with 
this campaign, in which the Portuguese, with the 
aid of their allies, had driven the Spaniards out 
of their country. The British forces were re- 
called to England, and Colonel Lee brought with 
him testimonials of his bravery and good con- 
duct from the King of Portugal and the Count 
de la Lippe. 



CHAPTER 11. 

Projects a PlAn for a Colony on the Ohio River, 

— Writes ofi the Affairs of the Colonies. — 
Goes to Poland, and becomes Aid-de- Camp to 
the Eing Stanislaus. — Visits Constantinople. 

— Returns to England. — His Remarks on 
Politics and public Men. — Disappointed in 
his Hope of Promotion. — Returns to Poland 
by Way of Paris and. Vienna. 

Among Lee's papers is found a scheme for 
establishing two new colonies, one on the Ohio 
below the Wabash, and the other on the Illinois, 
which appears to have been projected soon after 
the peace. A i^ompany was to be formed, ^|4 



so AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

grants were to be obtained from the King. It 
was a part of the plan to procure settlers from 
New England, and among the Protestants in 
Germany and Switzerland. In describing the 
advantages which he thinks could not fail to flow 
from these settlements, he discovers an accurate 
knowledge of the resources of the country, and 
of the facilities of navigation furnished by the 
great lakes and rivers of the west. In a political 
view, th^ would be important, protecting the old 
colonies from the incursions of the western In- 
dians, preventing their intercourse with the Span- 
iards at the south, and opening a new channel of 
commerce through the Mississippi and the Gulf 
of Mexico. 

The proposal was rejected by the ministers, 
who had adopted the policy of allowing no set- 
tlements in the territory beyond the Allegany 
Mountains. Experience proved, however, that 
this was a shortsighted policy, at variance with 
the interests of the government, and hostile to the 
prosperity of the colonies. A few years later, 
by the able interposition of Franklin, a company 
succeeded in obtaining a grant for a settlement 
on the Ohio ; but the approaching troubles of the 
revolution prevented its execution. 

Although baffled in this scheme, Lee continued 
to take a lively concern in the affairs of the 
colonies. He disapproved the plan of the minis- 



CHARLES LEE. 21 

try for prosecuting the Indian war, immediately 
after the peace of 1763, and reprobated the prin- 
ciples upon which this plan was founded. The 
germs, which gradually sprouted into the Stamp 
Act, had already begun to vegetate. The doc- 
trine was now for the first time broached, that 
the army in America should be paid by the 
colonists, not merely for their own defence, but 
for the protection of Canada. Lee's pen was not 
idle on this occasion. He attacked the ministers 
and their measures, both in regard to the mis- 
chievous counsels to which they listened on 
American alSairs, and to the policy which marked 
their designs. 

" We are told," he writes, " that this country 
is under no obligation to be at the expense of 
maintaining an army for the support of Canada, 
the advantages of which principally, or indeed 
solely, accrue to our colonies. They ought to 
pay for it ; they are able, but not willing. The 
first of these positions, if they who advanced it 
have conversed only with sailors, who probably 
judge of the abilities of the country in general by 
the opulent aspect of the seaport towns, may 
admit of some excuse ; but, if they will take the 
opportunity to consult the officers of the army, 
who have any knowledge of the interior parts of 
the country, and who can have no interest in the 
aflfairs of the colonies but what affects the com- 



SSt AMERICAN BI06RAPHT. 

mon cause of this country and humanity, they 
will receive very different accounts. They will 
be told that the settlers, even within a very few 
miles from the sea, are so far from being equal 
to the support of an army, that they require every 
kind of assistance and restorative which the 
mother country can possibly afford them," 

He pursues the subject with particular refer- 
ence to the misinformation of the ministers con- 
cerning the colonies, and to the system of military 
operations then pursued in America. He ascribes 
the cause to the false or exaggerated reports of 
interested persons, and especially to the baneful 
influence of Sir Jeffrey Amherst, for whose abili- 
ties and dispositions he entertained but very 
little respect. At this early period, Lee gives 
decided indications of his sentiments concerning 
the relations between the mother country and the 
colonies. Nor were these sentiments the result 
only of his experience and observation in Ameri- 
ca, but also of close research into historical facts. 
In a well written paper, he sketches briefly the 
colonial policy of the parent state from the first 
settlement of the country, bringing out all the 
prominent points with remarkable clearness, judg- 
ment, and precision. 

For several years, the restless spirit of Lee 
had found ample room for exercising itself in the 
sphere to which it was peculiarly adapted, that of 



CHARLES LEE. 99 

the active operations of war. The scene wa* 
now changed, and the ardor of his temper would 
not allow him to be quiet. He plunged into 
the turmoils of politics with the same boldness 
and vehemence that he would have shown in 
lighting a battle, or assaulting an enemy at the 
head of his regiment; and this apparently from 
the mere impulse of his nature, and not from 
the desire of courting any party, or of seeking 
advancement in a political career. The meas- 
ures of the administration, and the character of 
its distinguished leaders, became the themes of 
his pointed satire and scorching invectives, both 
in speech and writing, and at length the objects 
of his strong aversion and open hostility. 

His secret motives, if he had any besides the 
burning fire of his own spirit, it would not be 
easy now to ascertain. His opinions, frogi what- 
ever source they sprang, were openly avowed, 
and agreed in no particular with > those which 
ruled in the counsels of the nation. His ideas 
of liberty and of political rights savored of high 
republican principles. The American contest 
was yet in embryo ; but even at that time he 
evidently perceived symptoms of its approach, 
and gave no dubious indications of the part he 
was prepared to act. 

Meantime, his military ardor did not subside. 
An opportunity offered, as he now thought, for 



24 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

gratifying his ambition in this line on a new 
theatre. The distractions in Poland had brought 
that unhappy country to the verge of a war, 
and the friends of humanity were looking for- 
ward with hope to the possibility of her once 
more gaining her ancient independence, sup- 
pressing her internal dissensions, and averting 
the ruin in which her treacherous neighbors 
were plotting to involve her. Lee determined 
to embark in this cause, apparently as a soldier 
of fortune, without any definite purpose as to 
the side he should take. Action, the glory of 
arms, high rank in his profession, were probably 
the images that floated in his imagination and 
directed his course. 

He arrived in Poland about the middle of 
February, 1764, having passed through Holland, 
Brunswick, and Prussia. Favored by the recom- 
mendations of the Count de la Lippe, he was re- 
ceived by the hereditary Prince of Brunswick 
" not like a stranger well recommended, but like 
an old deserving friend," and was furnished by 
him with letters to the courts of Berlin and War- 
saw. He was charmed with the great Freder- 
ick. " Each time he was at court, the King 
talked with him more than half an hour, and 
chiefly on the topic with which he was best ac- 
quainted, American aflfairs." His Majesty was 
'^totally unceremonious and familiar, and his 



CHARLES LEE. S5 

manner was such as to banish that constraint 
and awe," which the character of such high 
personages naturally inspires. He found other 
members of the royal family " extremely curious 
on the subject of America." After remaining 
a few days at Berlin, he hastened forward to 
Warsaw.* 

Poniatowsky, who had been, recently elected 
King of Poland, with the name of Stanislaus 
Augustus, and who was one year younger than 
Lee, had passed some time in England before 
his elevation to the throne, and had gained 
many personal friends in that country. From 
some of these friends the British Colonel would 
naturally obtain good recommendations, since his 
military character stood very high, and he had 
given unquestionable proofs of superior talents 
and accomplishments. At all events, he was 
most kindly received by Stanislaus and the prin- 
cipal Polish nobility, and was soon attached to 
the person of the King, as one of his aids-de- 
camp. The particulars are described by himself, 
in a letter to Mr. Yorke. 

" Your brother. Sir Joseph Yorke," he says, 
"received me in the manner I expected from 
your brother.! He gave me the warmest let- 

• MS. Letter, dated at Waraaw, April 3d, 1764. 
t Sir Joseph Yorite was at this time Minister Plenipo- 
tentiary at the Hague. 



90 AMERICAN BI0e&APHT. 

ter to Wroughton, our minister here, in whom I 
have experienced a real friendship, if friendship 
may be pronounced from the utmost pains, ac- 
tivity, and zeal, to serve me. In short, I shall 
not take the liberty to trouble you with the de- 
tail of my peregrination and prc^ess, but * in- 
form you that his Polish Majesty has, from your 
recommendation, I believe contrary to the incli- 
nations of many of those whom the constitution 
of this country renders it necessary to manage, 
declared me his aid-de-camp. He had it not in 
his power to provide for me in the army, as the 
republic raises no new troops, and those few they 
have are already disposed of. The army was the 
object of my ambition ; and I hope you will be- 
Heve me sincere when I say that, if I had not 
a good opinion of the King as a man, let my 
necessities be what they might, I would not have 
accepted a place about his person. But I really ' 
have a high opinion of him. He appears to me 
not in the least elevated by his great fortune ; 
and the bearing well a sudden exaltation to pow- 
er, wealth, or grandeur, 1 have always judged to 
be the ordeal of a good heart. 

" As a King, he must be judged of hereafter ; 
but, if a good understanding, a well disposed 
heart, and the education of a subject, promise 
well, the chances are for him. As a man, I 
really think him agreeable and accomplished. 



OHitALCS LEB. 97 

Be is easy, citU, and totally unceremonious. He 
ii perfectly acquainted with our best English' au- 
thors. Shakspeare is his god ; which, to me, is 
tlie test of every man's sense and feeling. But 
I should make a thousand apologies for expatiat- 
ing on a character so much better known to you 
tbao to myself ; but I love the man, and am fond 
of the subject ; and likewise I think it may not 
be unsatisfactory to you to find that King Pon- 
iatowsky is not different from your friend Count 
Poniatowsky." 

Such were his first impressions ; in regard 
to the personal character of Poniatowsky, they 
seem never to have changed. Lee bestowed an 
uncommon mark of his regard upon his Polish 
Majesty. In some way not explained, he had 
become the fortunate owner of a sword reputed 
to have belonged to Oliver Cromwell. This sword 
be ordered to be sent to him from England, as 
a present to the King of Poland, who, he ob- 
serves, "though a King, is a great admirer of 
that extraordinary man.'' 

The British aid-de-camp met with good com- 
panionship at Warsaw. He was honored with a 
place at the King's table, and an apartment in 
the palace of Prince Czartorinsky. This Prince 
had resided in England, could write and speak 
the language fluently, and was an admirer of 
the best English authors. 



28 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

The state of affairs did not change, as he 
had hoped. The army continued on a limited 
scale. The distractions of the country, the 
growing spirit of disaffection to the government, 
became daily more formidable and alarming; 
nor was the power of the King adequate to 
raise or wield a force by which he could quell 
the agitation, or renovate the declining fortunes 
of Poland. A Russian army, like a hungry ti- 
ger, was prowling on the frontiers, fomenting 
discord within, and ready to seize and devour 
its prey whenever the exhausted strength of the 
Poles should afford a convenient opportunity 
No man was ever placed in a more awkward 
or unnatural position than Poniatowsky. At 
heart a friend to his country, to her independ- 
ence and liberties, he was betrayed, by his pas- 
sionate fondness for a crown and the empty 
name of king, to be the instrument of her ruin 
in the impious hands of foreign despots. In 
abetting such a cause, Lee certainly cannot be 
regarded as acting upon his high republican 
principles. It may be presumed, that distinction 
in his favorite profession of arms was his ruling 
motive. 

There are no means of ascertaining how he 
employed himself for nearly two years after his 
first arrival in Poland. In January, 1766, he 
accepted a proposal of the King to accompany 



CHARLES LEE. 29 

his ambassador to Constantinople, prompted more 
by curiosity than by any higher objects. After 
reaching the frontiers of Turkey, his impatience 
could not await the slow movements of the am- 
bassador, and he joined himself to an escort of the 
Grand Seignior's treasure, which was annually sent 
from Moldavia. He soon had reason to repent 
of his rashness, for he narrowly escaped starving 
and freezing on the summits of the Bulgarian 
Mountains. So ill provided were his conductors 
with the articles necessary for such a journey, 
that several men and horses died of the cold. 
Overcome with fatigue and exhaustion, he at last 
reached Constantinople, where he remained about 
four months, and then returned to Poland, re- 
joiced that he had not been buried in the ruins 
of his dwelling by an earthquake, which threw 
down houses and destroyed many lives in the 
Turkish capital whilst he was there.* 

In December of the same year we find him 
again in England. He brought a letter of recom- 
mendation from his Polish Majesty to King 
George, which he presented with his own hand, 
reminding the King, at the same time, of the 
promise he had made in his favor to Lord Thanet 
three years before. General Conway, then Secre- 
tary of State, flattered him also with the expecta- 

* MS. LetteiB fiom Constantinople, March 1st, and May 
S6th,1766. 



80 AMERICAN BIOGHAPHY. 

don that something would be done for him. Lee 
aoaght promotion, and thought the interest he 
could make through his powerful friends, added 
to what he believed to be his own merit, would 
be sufficient to secure the fulfilment of his wishes. 
Weeks passed on, however, and he received no 
answer to his application; and his hopes were 
fed only by vague expressions of civility from men 
in power. The disheartening truth was finally 
impressed upon him, that he was not in favor 
with the government, and that it would be in 
viitn for him to urge his pretensions any further. 
The cause of this disfavor has never been ex- 
pbined. It may perhaps be ascribed to his 
peKtical sentiments, his opinions not only of 
public measures but of public men, and the 
extreme freedom with which he avowed them on 
ail occasions. Whatever may have been the 
cause, his treatment seems to have operated with 
a peculiar power upon his sensitive mind, and to 
have produced a keen resentment both against 
the 'King and some of the ministers, which ran- 
kled ever afterwards in his breast.* 



• If he was the author of « A Letter to an Honorable 
Brigadier-General," as there is strong presumptive evidence 
for believing, it is not difficult to account for his want of 
success. The author of that performance had attacked the 
mititary character of Goieral Townshead and Lord George 



CHARLES L££. 31 

He appean to have contracted a warm per- 
sonal attachment to King Stanislaus, and a cor- 
respondence was kept up between them. In a 
letter written to him from London, October 20th, 
1767, we may perceiye evidences of this attach- 
ment, as well as of his disappointment on eu-riving 
in his native country. He says, <^ The assurances 
your letter gives me of your good opinion and 
r^ard, I shall ever consider as the happiest, the 
most honorable circumstance of my life. They 
make ample amends for the enmities I have 
drawn upon myself from certain powerful quar- 
ters in my own country, where, perhaps from some 
just judgment of God, the same qualities which 
would recommend to your Majesty are highly 
obnoxious. I devoutly wish, and proudly hope, 
for my own honor, that I may ever possess a 
place in the esteem of your Majesty, and remain 
the aversion of those who so widely, so totally, 
differ from you." He then proceeds to answer 
the King's inquiries respecting public occurrences 
and public men in England, and describes in 
strong language the situation of Pitt, who had 
lately become a peer. He touches likewise on 



Sackville on snch tender points, and with snch polidh«d 
keenness cf sarcasm, as to render it impossible that he 
afaoQld be ibrgiven by the friends of those officers, or their 
suppoftejiB in the goveniment. 



32 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

American affairs. The Stamp Act had been 
passed and repealed during his absence. 

"Nothing," he observes, "could make the 
American colonists cast off their obedience, or 
even respect, to their mother country, but some 
attempt on the essence of their liberty ; such as 
undoubtedly the Stamp Act was. If it had 
remained unrepealed and admitted as a prece- 
dent, they would have been slaves to all intents 
and purposes, as their whole property would lie 
at the mercy of the crown's minister and the 
minister's ministers, the House of Commons, who 
would find no end to the necessity of taxing these 
people, as every additional tax would furnish the 
means of adding to their respective wages. If 
the humors, which this accursed attempt has 
raised, are suffered to subside, the inherent 
affection which the colonies have for the moth* 
er country, and clashings of interest one with 
another, will throw everything back into the old 
channel ; which indeed is the case already. But 
if another attack of the same nature should be 
made upon them, by a wicked, blundering minis- 
ter, I will venture to prophesy, that this country 
will be shaken to its foundation in its wealth, 
credit, naval force, and interior population." 

This letter was answered by the King on the 
20th of March, 1768. The following extract, 



CHARLES L£E. 66 

translated from the original, will show the views 
of his Polish Majesty respecting the dispute be- 
tween England and her colonies. 

" If it be true that the great Pitt has become 
an example of human weakness, this calamity 
gives me the same kind of regret that I should 
feel at the overthrow of St. Peter's Church by an 
earthquake, because it would be the destruction 
of a model of perfection, or at least of human 
excellence. As I have not received the pam- 
phlets concerning the colonies, which you pro- 
posed to send to me, I would ask again why it 
is, that the right of sending representatives to 
the British Parliament is not accorded to the 
colonies ? Representation and taxation would 
then go together, and the mother and daughters 
would be indissolubly united. Otherwise, I see 
no alternative but oppression or complete inde- 
pendence. For the expedient of American Par- 
liaments, or anything else of the kind, under 
whatsoever name it might be called, would only 
produce an opposition of interests between the 
colonies and England, as incompatible as it would 
be injurious to all parties. 

" The English in America would then have the 
same relation to those of Europe, that exists in 
the seven United Provinces, which compose a 
federal republic, and whose government is so 
defective and slow in its operations, on account 

VOL. VIII. 3 



34 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of the equality of power between the seven little 
republics respectively. The worst of all would 
be, that it should become necessary for the acts 
of the Parliament of England to be approved by 
an American Parliament before they can be ex- 
ecuted in America, which would make the latter 
paramount to the former. This would be the 
same abuse that is now seen in Poland, where the 
Dietine of Prussia arrogates to itself the right of 
confirming or rejecting what the Diet of the 
kingdom of Poland has decreed." 

These ideas, if not entirely adapted to the 
circumstances to which they refer, evince, a liberal 
turn of mind and a due regard for the political 
rights of men. 

Lee wrote a letter to another friend in Poland, 
from which may be gathered his opinions of some 
of the actors at that time prominent in the coun- 
cils of the nation. It was written during the 
first months of the Duke of Grafton's adminis- 
tration. 

"A formidable opposition," he says, "is ex- 
pected, but the conjectures on its success are too 
vague to be attended to. Some men of weight 
and reputation are embarked in it, but the heads 
are too odious to the nation in general, in my 
opinion, to carry their point; such as Bedford, 
Sandwich, Grenville, and, with submission, your 
friend Mansfield. He lately drew upon himaelf 



CHA&LES L££. 35 

tLe laugh of the House of Lords, making use of 
the word liberty of the subject, and expressing 
great regard for it. It was called Satan preach- 
ing up sanctity. Conway is still Secretary of 
State, and much regarded as a man of ability and 
integrity. Lord Shelburne, the other* secretary, 
has surpassed the opinion of the world ; he 
speaks well, and is very distinct in office. The 
Duke of Grafton is an absolute orator, and has a 
fair character. An Irishman, one Mr. Burke, has 
sprung up in the House of Commons, who has 
astonished every body with the power of his 
eloquence, and his comprehensive knowledge in 
all our exterior and interior politics and commer- 
cial interests. He wants nothing, but that sort 
of dignity annexed to rank and property in Eng- 
land, to make him the most considerable man in 
the lower house." 

In writing to his correspondents in Poland, 
Lee could not forbear to make known the dis- 
appointment he had met with in his own country, 
and in his usual style of freedom, if not of 
rashness. His friend, Sir Thomas Wroughton, 
gave him salutary counsel on this point. He 
writes from Warsaw, April 29th, 1767, " I should 
have been heartily glad to hear, my dear Colonel, 
that his Majesty's recommendations had been 
more successful in procuring you an establishment 
equal to your merit and wishes; but I am not 



36 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

at all surprised that you find the door shut 
against you by a person who has such unbounded 
credit, as you have ever too freely indulged a 
liberty of declaiming, which many infamous and 
invidious people have not failed to inform him 
of. The principle, on which you thus freely 
speak your mind, is honest and patriotic, but not 
politic; and as it will not succeed in changing 
men or times, common prudence should teach us 
to hold our tongues, rather than to risk our own 
fortunes without any advantage to ourselves or 
neighbors. Excuse this scrap of advice, and 
place it to the vent of a heart entirely devoted to 
your interest," Fortunate would it have been 
for Lee, to the last day of his life, if this advice 
had been heeded and followed. 

What special claims he had to advancement, 
beyond those of other officers who had done 
their duty faithfully and bravely during the war, 
or whether he had been superseded by others of 
equal or lower rank, there are no means now of 
ascertaining. As the matter stands, it can scarce* 
ly be denied that he had a higher opinion of his 
claims, than his services and his just pretensions 
on this ground alone would naturally warrant. 
A better knowledge of the facts and his reasons, 
however, might exhibit the case under a different 
aspect. 

After remaining about two years in England, 



CHAALBS LEE. 37 

sufTering frequently from ill health, he formed the 
plan of passing the winter in the south of France 
and in the Island of Corsica, and of returning to 
Poland in the spring, with the further design of 
performing a campaign in the Russian service. 
"I flatter myself," said he, "that a little more 
practice will make me a good soldier. If not, it 
will serve to talk over my kitchen fire in my old 
age, which will soon come upon us all." 

He left London in December, 1768, with this 
project in view ; but on his arrival at Paris, he 
met Prince Czartorinsky, who prevailed on hiaj^ 
to abandon his southern tour, and accompany 
him directly to Poland. They travelled by the 
wi^ of Vienna, where they waited two or three 
weeks for an escort, the frontiers of Poland being 
overrun with armed parties of confederates. In 
a letter from Vienna, he says, " I am to have a 
0QQUDan4 of Cossacks and Wallacks, a kind of 
people I have a good opinion of. I am deter- 
mined not to serve in the line ; one might as well 
b^ a churchwarden." He arrived at Warsaw 
Wtly in the spring* 



38 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



CHAPTER III. 

Appointed a Major-General in the Polish Army. 
— Enters the Russian Service, and performs a 
Campaign against the Turks, — Travels through 
Hungary to Italy. — Returns to England by 
Way of Minorca and Gibraltar. 

It is not probable that Lee had any other 
object, in entering the Russian service, than that 
already mentioned, practice in his profession. 
As the campaign against the Turks did not open 
so soon as he expected, he continued for some 
time at Warsaw. His situation there is thus 
described in a letter to Lady Blake. 

"This country is the reverse of ours. They 
have an honest, patriot King, but a vicious nation. 
Our station here, I mean those about the King's 
person, is whimsical enough. We have few 
troops, the bulk of these totally disaflfected, and 
the town is full of * confederates,' though not 
declared, far from being concealed. We have 
frequent alarms, and the pleasure of sleeping 
every night with our pistols on our pillows. I 
at present only wait for an opportunity to join 
the Russian army. This does not happen every 
day, as a strong escort is necessary, the commu- 
nications being filled with banditti of robbers, who 



CHARLES LEE. 39 

are the offals of the confederates. I believe it 
will be but a ridiculous campaign, something like 
that of Wilkes and Talbot. The Russians can 
gain nothing by beating their enemy, and the 
Turks are confoundedly afraid." * 

To his friend, George Colman, he wrote, at 
the same time, " If I am defeated in my inten- 
tion of joining the Russians, I think of passing 
through Hungary, and spending the ensuing 
winter in Italy, Sicily, or some of the islands in 
the iBgean Sea. As to England, I am resolved 
not to set my foot in it till the virtues, which I 
believe to exist in the body of the people, can 
be put into motion. I have good reasons for it. 
My spirits and temper were much affected by 
the measures which I was witness of, measures 
absolutely moderate, laudable, and virtuous, in 
c(miparison of what has been transacted since. 
To return solemn thanks to the crown for man- 
ifestly corrupt dissipation of its enormous reve- 
nues and impudent demand on the people, and, 
to repair this dissipation, to complete their own 

• In LangwoTthfa « Memoir of Charles Lee," this letter 
ifl said to have been addressed to Catharine Macaulay, the 
celebrated republican historian of England. But the editor 
of " Woodfall's Junius " informs us that it was written to 
Lady Blake, which indeed is sufficiently obvious from in- 
tenud evidence. Lady Blake was sister to Sir Charles 
Banbury, and first cousin to General Lee. 



40 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

rain, is pushing servility farther than the rascally 
senate of Tiberius was guilty of. In this light 
it is considered by all those I converse with, of 
every nation, even those who have the least idea 
of liberty. The Austrians and Russians hoot at 
us. In fine, it is looked upon as the ultimatum 
of human baseness, a coup de grace to our free- 
dom and national honor." 

This freak of ill humor, in regard to the 
public measures of his native country, is sea- 
soned with a spice of wit. Alluding to the 
confederates, and their acts of violence, he says, 
<^It is impossible to stir ten yards without an 
escort of Russians. The English are less se- 
cure than others, as they are esteemed the arch- 
enemies of the holy faith. A French comedian 
was the other day near being hanged, from the 
circumstance of his wearing a bob-wig, which, 
by the confederates, is supposed to be the uni- 
form of the English nation. I wish to God the 
three branches of our legislature would take it 
into their heads to travel through the woods of 
Poland in bob-wigs." 

His political bias is likewise strongly marked 
in a letter to Lord Thanet. Speaking of the 
opinions of those around him concerning the 
transactions in England, he adds, <' Such is the 
language of these people ; and it is fortunate 
for me that they are ignorant of our American 



OHAKLCS LfiE. 41 

politics. They can have no idea of our carry* 
iog our abominations so far as to disfranchise 
three millions of people of all the rights of men, 
for the gratification of the revenge of a blunder- 
ing, knavish Secretary, and a scoundrel Attor- 
ney-General, a Hillsborough and a Bernard. 
Were they informed of these facts, their opin- 
ion of us would be still more mortifying.^ 
After these specimens of his freedom of speech, 
we cannot wonder at the prudent counsel ot 
his friend Wroughton. 

In a letter to his sister, written two or three 
months later, at Warsaw, in the summer of 
1769, he thus speaks of his situation and pros- 
pects. " I have been in this place three months, 
waiting for an opportunity to join the Russian 
army. A very safe one will now offer in ten 
or twelve days. The present ambassador is to 
join bis regiment, and he will have a strong es- 
cort. I am, happily, very well acquainted with 
him, and believe I am a sort of favorite of his. 
He is a good sort of man, with wit, knowl- 
edge, and courage ; in short, a man of that 
stamp whose friendship gives one credit and 
pleasure. 

"The King received me with the cordiality 
and goodness which I expected from his noble 
and steady character. He treats me more like 
a brother than patron. This week he intends 



4S AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

honoring me with the rank of Major-General. 
It is really an honor ; for although, amongst the 
Poles, many indifferent subjects, from the nature 
of the government, arrive at a still higher rank, 
yet the foreigners who have obtained it have 
been men of unexceptionable character in the 
services in which they have been engaged. 
This testimony of so excellent a Prince's esteem 
flatters me extremely. He is indeed an excel- 
lent Prince. He is worthy of being the chief 
magistrate of a better nation. I know a nation 
that is worthy of a better chief magistrate than 
it possesses. Could they not make an ex- 
change ? " 

The honor upon which he set so high a 
value was conferred upon him, according to the 
King's promise. He was raised to the rank of 
Major-General in the Polish army, with the pay 
and establishment suited to that rank while he 
should reside in Poland. 

He left Warsaw, as he had proposed, with 
Prince Repnin, the Russian ambassador, and 
proceeded, with a strong guard, to the frontiers 
of Turkey. When they arrived at the Niester, 
however, the army had already crossed that 
river, and advanced two days' march into Mol- 
davia. They overtook the army just in time 
to be engaged in a severe action between the 
hostile parties. While the Russians were march- 



CHARLES LEE. 48 

ii^ through a ravine, their left wing, consisting 
of Cossacks and hussars, was attacked by fifty 
thousand Turkish cavalry, and driven back upon 
the infantry, who were thrown into confusion. 
They were rallied and formed with difficulty ; 
but they stood their ground till reenforced by a 
second line of troops, who were stationed on 
the margin of the ravine. 

After a sharp conflict, the Turks were at 
length forced to give way, and the Russians 
pushed forward to a more favorable position, 
where they formed an oblong square, to protect 
themselves against the ' furious assaults of the 
Turkish cavalry. These assaults were so warm 
and constant, that they were compelled to re- 
treat, and to take post in a strong camp on the 
heights of Chotzim, near the city of that name. 
For some time they blockaded the city, and en- 
deavored to batter down its walls ; but their 
cannon were too small to effect' this object; 
and, when the Grand Vizier arrived, with a 
hundred and seventy thousand men, and cut off 
their intercourse with the country, they were re- 
duced to the inglorious necessity of abandoning 
the enterprise, and recrossing the Niester.* 

In a letter to the King of Poland, dated at 
Ejuniniek, a town situate near the north bank 

* Letter to Sir Charles Daven, December 24th, 17G9. 



44 AMEBICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

ol the Niester, opposite to Chotzim, Lee de- 
scribes these operations, but bestows little praise 
on the address with which they had been con 
ducted. They reflected little credit on the mil- 
itary genius or skill of the generals. The cam- 
paign had been useful to him, however, as 
adding to his knowledge and experience in the 
line of his profession. 

For several months, he had been troubled 
with attacks of rheumatism, to which was now 
added a slow fever, brought on by bad diet and 
exposure in the army ; and he determined to 
seek a restoration of his health, during the win* 
ter, in a milder climate. He proposed to try 
the waters of Buda, and crossed the Carpathi- 
an Mountains, on his route to that place ; but 
he had scarcely entered Hungary, when he was 
seized with a violent fever, which compelled 
him to stop at a miserable village, where, for 
three weeks, his attendants despaired of his life. 
The strength of his constitution, however, sus- 
tained him till he was able to be removed to 
a more considerable town, where he obtained 
medical aid. Eighteen months afterwards, he 
speaks of still feeling the effects of his ^^Hun- 
garian fever." Among his papers is a passport, 
dated at Cashau, in Hungary, November 29th, 
1769, and signed '^ Esterhazy," commanding all 
persons to let him pass unmolested, and to as* 



CHARLES LEE. 46 

sist him in the prosecution of his journey. He 
passed the winter at Vienna, mingling in a soci- 
ety to which he became mucti attached. 

At the approach of spring, he travelled south- 
ward ; and, in May, 1770, we find him at Flor- 
ence, and two months afterwards at Leghorn. 
From this latter city, he wrote to a friend in 
Vienna, " I am making an experiment of sea- 
bathing, and I think it has done me consider- 
able service. I shall try it some time longer, 
though not in this place, in which the relaxing 
society and conversation must certainly counter- 
act the bracing qualities of the sea water. 
Why is not the sea at Vienna? Or, rather, 
why am I such a blockhead as not to suppose 
that a society which gave me such satisfaction 
must be better, both for my soul and body, 
though the water is fresh, than salt water with 
conversation sine grano salts 1 Believe me, I 
most sincerely regret my having left Vienna. I 
pay no compliment to it when I say I prefer 
it to all other places. I entreat you will assure 
the circle of our common friends of my idola- 
try for Vienna ; I mean the families of Herack, 
Schonbroun, and the Spanish ambassador. I 
cannot find terms to express my love and ven- 
eration for them. I must therefore beg you to 
assure them, that if they will encourage me by 
BSLyingy through- your channel, that they have n^ 



46 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

already had too much of me, I will pay them 
another visit, and that, perhaps, a very long 
one." 

Whether he realized this anticipation is not 
known. He remained in Italy during the sum- 
mer, and is reported to have been engaged in 
a duel with a foreign officer, in which his op- 
ponent was killed, and he received a wound 
that deprived him of the use of two of his 
fingers. From Florence, he wrote to Sir Charles 
Davers, that he should, perhaps, embark with the 
Russian fleet for the Morea, if his health would 
])ermit; but he reUnquished that project. In 
the winter following, he passed over to Sicily 
and Malta, for the purpose, as he says, of in- 
vigorating his debilitated health and spirits by 
sea-bathing in the cold season. Near the end 
of March, 1770, he sailed from Leghorn to 
Minorca, and thence to Gibraltar and Cadiz. 
He mentions a design of passing the summer 
at Spa, for the benefit of the waters ; but it is 
uncertain whether he carried it into execution 
At all events, he was among his friends in 
England before the end of the year. 

No evidence has been discovered of his again 
visiting Poland. The increasing disturbances in 
that ill fated country ofiered no field for action 
in the service of the King. It is pleasing to ob- 
serve, however, that he retained to the last the 



CHARLES LEE. 47 

flame personal respect and affection for Stanislaus, 
that be- expressed during the first months of 
their acquaintance. 



CHAPTER IV. 



His Sentiments and Writings on political Subjects. 

— A resolute Friend and Defender of Liberty. 

— The Authorship of the Letters of Junius 
ascribed to him. — Discussion of that Question. 

Since he could find no opportunity for his 
congenial pursuit of using his sword, he had the 
more leisure for wielding his pen. In his own 
country he entered with his accustomed warmth 
into the controversies of the day, and furnished 
frequent contributions to the public journals. 
The blunders, abuses, and corruption of ministers, 
in bis opinion, supplied an exhaustless theme, and 
he was never weary with assailing their schemes 
and their measures. His high principles of lib- 
erty, and republican tendencies, appear in all his 
writings. <^Mr. Burke seems to inculcate," he 
says, '^ that the salvation of this state is to be 
expected from the aristocratical part of the com- 
aiunity ; but I sincerely think nothing great is to 



48 AMERICAN BIOQKAPHT. 

be expected from that quarter." Sarcagm, iKmy, 
pungent invective, and a considerable share <€ 
wit, are characteristic marks of his compositions. 
The freedom of the press Vas a favorite topic, 
both in England' and afterwards in America. 
He held that the characters of public men are 
public property, and that no station, however 
high, should screen their abuse of office, their 
follies and vices, from the lash of indignant rep- 
robation. This sentiment be did not forbear to 
illustrate practically with an unsparing license. 

His hostility to every kind of arbitrary govern- 
ment, and to whatsoever tends to foster the privi- 
leges of a few at the expense of the many, often 
appears. Among the works, which he regarded 
as peculiarly incorrect and unjust in their political 
character, was Hume's "History of the Stuarts." 
The coloring and deceptive tissues, with which 
that acute and ingenious writer had contributed 
to clothe the conduct and policy of the kings of 
the Stuart race, and his plausible and disguised 
defence of slavish principles and tyrannical en- 
croachments, were regarded by him as so many 
attacks upon the sacred rights of mankind, and 
as heaping reproaches upon the noble* army of 
patriots, who had achieved the glorious revolu- 
tion. In an ironical epistle, addressed to Hume 
himself, he mentions a project, which that work 
had suggested to him. 



CHARLES LEE. 49 

"'I am 80 much in love with the scheme of 
your history," he observes, " I am so convinced 
that no task can be equally laudable in a philoso- 
pher, an historian, and a gentleman, as to endeav- 
or to eradicate from the minds of our youth all 
prejudices and prepossessions against the memory 
of deceased and the character of living princes, 
and, by obviating the cavils and malice of re- 
publican writers, to inspire mankind with more 
candor in judging of the actions and government 
of sovereigns, that I am determined to follow 
so bright an example, and exert the utmost of my 
zeal, skill, and abilities (indeed far short of 
yours) to rescue ffom the unmerited odium 
under which they lie two much injured charac- 
ters in history ; I mean, the Emperor Claudius 
Csesar, and his immediate successor, Nero, whose 
foibles and indiscretions have been swelled up 
into vices by the austerity and malevolence of 
Tacitus, Suetonius, and others, (the Rapins, 
Ludlows, and Macaulays, of those days,) who 
wrote under succeeding monarchs of different 
families. But, as the motives of such virulent 
proceedings are now ceased, and as men's minds 
ought to be a little cooler, we may venture to 
pronounce the disposition of those princes to 
have been good, though I do not think they were 
fiiultless, or altogether well advised." 

He dilates upon the subject in a letter to a 

VOL. VIII. 4 



50 AMERICAN BI06RAPHT. 

friend, from which it appears that he had a seri- 
ous intention of undertaking such a task, and of 
showing, that, by adopting Hume's manner of 
representing the motives and acts of Charles and 
James, it would be easy to prove Claudius and 
Nero to have been virtuous princes, aiming only 
to .exercise their prerogatives, and the power 
intrusted to them by the constitution, for the 
good of their country. To what extent he prose- 
cuted this design, his papers do not show. 

He spent the spring and summer of 1772 in 
France and Switzerland, seeking a restoration of 
health by change of air and exercise. He rested 
two months at Dijon, and for some time at Lyons, 
and then proceeded to Lausanne for the purpose 
of consulting the celebrated physician Tissot. 
His chief complaints were rheumatism and gout ; 
but his bodily frame was debilitated, and had re- 
covered very slowly from the effects of the fever 
which brought him so low in Hungary. He 
complains that his spirits were variable, some- 
times elastic and buoyant, at others depressed; 
and in this state of morbid feeling he is ready to 
believe, as he says in some of his letters, that his 
temper had altered for the worse. Indeed, he 
was ever frank and candid in confessing his de- 
fects. But, neither the energy nor fertility of 
his mind was diminished by the maladies of his 
body, and he employed himself during this tour 



CHARLES LEE. 51 

in writing his remarks on Hume's History of 
England. 

The dubious honor of the authorship of the 
Letters of Junius has likewise been claimed for 
Charles Lee. This intimation was communicated 
Xo the public twenty years after his death, in a 
letter written by Mr. Thomas Rodney, of Dela- 
ware. In narrating a conversation, which he had 
with General Lee in the year 1773, concerning 
these letters, Mr. Rodney speaks as follows. 

'< General Lee said there was not a man in 
the world, no, not even Woodfall, the publisher, 
that knew who the author was ; that the secret 
rested wholly with himself, and forever would 
remain with him. Feeling in some degree sur- 
prised at this unexpected declaration, after paus- 
ing a little, I replied, * No, General Lee, if you 
certainly know what you have affirmed, it can no 
longer remain solely with him; for certainly no 
one could know what you have affirmed but the 
author himself.' Recollecting himself, he re- 
plied, * I have unguardedly committed myself, 
and it would be but folly to deny to you that 1 
am the author ; but I must request you will not 
reveal it during my life ; for it never was nor ever 
will be revealed by me to any other.' He then 
proceeded to mention several circumstances to 
verify his being the author, and, among them, 
that of his going over to the continent; and ab 



52 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

senting himself from England the most of the 
time in which these letters were published in 
London. This he thought necessary, lest by 
some accident the author should become known, 
or at least suspected, which might have been 
his ruin." * , 

Mr. Rodney moreover expresses his own be- 
lief, founded on this conversationj that Lee was 
the author of the letters. This circumstance, 
the highly respectable character of Mr. Rodney, 
and the positive nature of his testimony, pro- 
duced a strong impression at the time on the 
minds of many persons, both in the United 
States and England. General Lee's reputation 
as a writer, a scholar, and a man of genius, the 
tone and character of some of his compositions, 
and his peculiar temper, were such as to afford a 
plausible groundwork for this opinion. 

Public attention was soon drawn to the subject. 
Mr. Ralph Wormeley, of Virginia, who had 
known General Lee intimately during the latter 
years of his life, wrote a letter to Mr. Rodney, 
which was published, and in which he attempted 
to prove, that General Lee was so little ac- 
quainted with parliamentary history, and with the 

• The letter from which this extract is taken was dated 
at Dover, February 1st, 1803. It was first published in the 
Wilmington Mirror^ and in April of the same year it was 
copied into the St, Jamui'a Chronicle^ London. 



CHARLES LEE. 53 

knowledge of other topics so ably discussed in 
the Letters of Junius, that he could not possibly 
have been the author. 

Mr. Wormeley found an ardent and persever- 
ing opponent in Mr. Daniel Carthy, of North 
Carolina, who wrote a series of papers in the 
Virginia Gazette, aiming not only to confute 
Mr. Wormeley's argument, but to establish the 
position of Mr. Rodney by various testimony 
drawn from the writings of General Lee, his ed- 
ucation, political sentiments, and connections in 
society. Mr. Carthy likewise had the advantage 
of a personal acquaintance with General Lee, 
having served under him as an officer in the 
American war, and, from this intercourse, hav- 
ing conceived a warm attachment to him and 
high admiration of his talents. 

A writer in England, Dr. Thomas Girdlestone, 
attracted to the subject by Mr. Rodney's letter, 
pubUshed a pamphlet on the same side of the 
question. He rested his argument mainly on 
parallel passages, selected from the Letters of 
Junius and the writings of General Lee contained 
in the Memoirs published by Mr. Langworthy. 
The force of this argument being admitted, 
there was, however, a grave difficulty in the way, 
which Dr. Girdlestone was much embarrassed in 
removing. 

It appeared, from the dates of some of Lee's 



54 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

papers, that he was not in England, but in a re- 
mote part of the continent, during the publica- 
tion of the larger portion of Junius's Letters, 
and it was well known that Junius, whoever he 
was, must have been constantly in London, or in 
the neighborhood of that city. To overcome 
this difficulty, it was necessary for Dr. Girdle- 
stone to assume, that Lee purposely dated from 
a distant place his letters to some of his friends, 
who were in the secret, and who might show 
these letters, to prevent suspicion. The erroneous 
dates prefixed to many of Lee's printed letters 
gave countenance to this hypothesis. But, after 
all, the thread was too slender to hold the argu- 
ment together, without a strong additional force, 
which Dr. Girdi^stone could not command. He 
was more successful in meeting the objection of 
the many inconsistencies between the writings of 
Lee and Junius. To this he replied, correctly, 
that these inconsistencies are not greater than 
those in the writings of Junius himself, as exhib- 
ited in his different letters. 

But there is no occasion to enlarge on this 
subject. The first letter of Junius is dated in 
January, 1769, and the last in January, 1772. 
From the manuscript papers of General Lee, 
it is certain that he was in Warsaw early in 
the year 1769, that he remained there during 
the summer, that he joined the Russian army 



CHARLES LEE. 56 

in the campaign against the Turks in the au- 
tumn, that he passed the following winter at Vi- 
enna, and the summer of 1770 in Italy. These 
facts are proved by the dates in his private diary, 
recorded in his own handwriting. Within the 
above period, more than half the letters of Junius 
were published, and some of them in such quick 
succession, and relating so exclusively to local 
events, that th«y could not have been written by 
any person absent from England.* 

It may then be asked. What is to be thought 
of Mr. Rodney's letter? The reader must 
judge. His own veracity is not to be ques- 
tioned. He may have misunderstood General 
Lee's meaning, or have drawn a false inference 
from language that was left purposely ambigu- 
ous. General Lee's vanity might, perhaps, carry 
him so far. But the misconception may be ex- 
plained in a different manner. It is well known 
that General Lee was a frequent contributor to 
the newspapers when he was in London, and 
engaged eagerly in the political controversies of 
the day. It is certainly possible, and even 



• Dr. Girdlestone's pamphlet was published in 1807. It 
was followed by another edition, much enlarged, in 1813. 
The subject is discussed in tlie Preliminary Essay to 
«* Woodfall's Junius," but the editor relies on the false dates 
contained in Langworthy's Memoir. See also the " British 
Critic" for September, 1807. 



SB AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

probable, that, after he returned to England, 
during the last year of the correspondence of 
Junius, he entered, among others, into the con- 
test with that brilliant writer, by anonymous 
communications to the public journals. In his 
conversation with Mr. Rodney, he may have 
alluded to this literary warfare in such a man- 
ner as to connect himself with Junius, without 
absolutely intending to convey the* impression of 
identity. This is no more than conjecture, 
however, and the reader must form his own 
opinion. 

Whatever fortunes may have befallen General 
Lee during his travels, and in England, he 
seems neither to have changed his opinions, nor 
to have become reconciled to the policy of the 
ministers in regard to the colonies, or to the 
measures adopted by them for carrying out that 
policy. The high principles of political free- 
dom, which he had openly avowed in his early 
years, were, in this instance, fortified by a con- 
viction of right and ja sense of justice. Such 
were his constant declarations, and there is sure- 
ly no reason for doubting his sincerity, since 
these declarations conflicted with his personal 
interests, and thwarted all ambitious hopes, by 
interposing a bar to any promotion he might 
otherwise have expected under the auspices of 
the government. At length he became identi- 



CHARLES LEE. 57 

fied in principle with the American cause, and 
he resolved to make a tour through the colo- 
nies, whether with the design of establishing 
himself permanently in the country, or only of 
gratifying his curiosity by observation, it would 
be in vain now to inquire. It is probable, how- 
ever, that, in case of a war, he had already 
determined what part he should act. 



CHAPTER V. 

Arrives in America. — Travels in the Middle 
and Eastern Provinces. — Letters to General 
Gage and Lord Percy. — In Philadelphia at 
the Sitting of the first Continental Congress. 
— Dr. Myles Cooper^ s Pamphlet. — Lee^s An- 
swer. — His . Account of the political State of 
the Colonies. — Unbraces vnth Ardor the Cause 
of the Americans. — Visits Maryland and Vir- 
ginia. — Purchases an Estate in Virginia. 

General Lee arrived in New York, from 
London, on the 10th of November, 1773. His 
old enemy, the gout, with which he was often 
afflicted, kept him a prisoner for some time after 
he landed; but, as soon as he was sufficiently 



58 AMEBICAN BIOGHAPHT. 

recovered, he began his travels to the south- 
ward. He made no secret of his sentiments or 
wishes in New York. " Your old acquaintance, 
General Lee/' says Mr. Thomas Gamble, in a 
letter written from that place to General Brad- 
street, " has lived with me for a month ; more 
abusive than ever, and the greatest son of lib- 
erty in America. He has now gone to Mary- 
land, to see Mr. Dulany. He extols the Bosto- 
nians, and wishes the rest of the colonies would 
follow their example." 

After leaving New York, he passed five or 
six months in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Vir- 
ginia, seeking everywhere the society of the po- 
litical leaders, and attracting much attention by 
the zeal with which he espoused the cause of 
the Americans, his eloquent and fervid discourse, 
and the romantic renown which he had acquired 
by his European wanderings and military expe- 
rience. The eccentricity of his manners, which 
led him sometimes to infringe upon the recog- 
nized rules of social intercourse, was regarded as 
the natural fruit of a brilliant though erratic ge- 
nius ; and his political principles were in such 
perfect accordance with the spirit of the times, 
and were poured into the ears of every listener 
with so much earnestness and ability, that he 
soon won the hearts of the people, and gained 
the confidence of all the prominent patriots 



CHARLES LEE. 59 

During the summer of 1774, he travelled 
through the middle and eastern colonies, as far 
as Boston. At this time, General Gage was in 
that city, as Govei'nor of Massachusetts, and at 
the head of a British army. Although a friend- 
ship had long subsisted between him and Gen- 
eral Lee, yet the latter purposely forbore to caM 
upon him, or to show him any marks of per- 
sonal respect. His reasons are assigned in a 
characteristic letter to General Gage. 

" Whether it is from a cynical disposition," 
he writes, "or a laudable misanthropy, whether 
it is to my credit or discredit, I know not ; but 
it is most certain tjiat I have had a real affec- 
tion for very few men ; but that these few I 
have loved with warmth, zeal, and ardor. You, 
Sir, amongst these few, have ever held one of 
the foremost places. I respected your under- 
standing, liked your manners, and perfectly 
adored the qualities of your heart. These, Sir, 
are my reasons, paradoxical as they may appear 
to you, that I now avoid what I heretofore 
should have thought a happiness. Were you 
personally indifferent to me, I should, perhaps, 
from curiosity, appear in the -circle of your levee ; 
but I hold in such abhorrence the conduct, tem- 
per, and spirit, of our present court, more par- 
ticularly their present diabolical measures with 
respect to this country fill me with so much hor- 



60 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ror and indignation, that I cannot bear to see a 
man, from whom my affections can never be 
weaned, in the capacity of one of their instru- 
ments ; as I am convinced that the court of 
Tiberius, or Philip the Second, was not more 
treacherous to the rights of mankind than the 
present court of Great Britain. 

" I know not whether the people of America 
will be successful in their struggles for liberty ; 
I think it most probable they will, from what I 
have seen in my progress through the colonies. 
So noble a spirit pervades all orders of men, 
from the first estated gentlemen to the lowest 
planters, that I think they must be victorious. I 
most devoutly wish they may ; for, if the machi- 
nations of their enemies prevail, the bright god- 
dess of liberty must, like her sister Astrsea, ut- 
terly abandon the earth, and leave not a wreck 
behind. 

" I know. Sir, you will do me the justice to 
believe that I am not acting a part ; that no 
affectation has place in my conduct. You have 
known me long enough, I flatter myself, to be 
persuaded that zeal for the liberties of my coun- 
try and the rights of. mankind has been my pre- 
dominant passion."* 

* At the beginning of the previous war, Gage had been 
Lieutenant-Colonel of the forty-fourth regiment, in which 



CHARLES LEE. 61 

In a letter written at the same time to Lord 
Percy, who was then stationed at Boston as an 
officer in the army, he expresses similar senti- 
ments, and with equal freedom, 

"Were the principle of taxing America with- 
out her consent admitted," he says, " Great Brit- 
ain would that instant be ruined ; the pecuniary 

Lee had served as captain. A few weeks before the date 
of the above letter, Gates wrote to Lee as follows. "Un- 
less actions convince me to the contrary, I am resolved to 
think Mr. Grage has some secret medicine in his pocket 
to heal the wounds that threaten the life of American lib- 
erty. Surely a man so humane, so sensible, so honorable, 
80 independent in his circumstances, and so great from 
family expectations, would never undertake a business fit 
only for an abandoned desperado, or a monster in human 
shape. I have read with wonder and astonishment (rage's 
proclamation& Surely this is not the same man you and 
I knew so well in days of yore." Again, a month later; 
"Be careful how you act, for be assured Gage knows you 
too well, and knows you know him too well, not to be 
glad of any plausible pretence to prevent your good ser- 
vices in the public cause." At this time Gates was re- 
siding in Berkeley County, Virginia, west of the Blue 
Ridge, having left the 'army, and purchased a plantation 
there, after the peace of 1763. He had been in the dis- 
astrous expedition under General Braddock, in 1755, as 
captain of an independent company ; and, in the same ex- 
pedition. Gage was Lieutenant-Colonel of the forty-fourth 
regiment They were both wounded in the battle of the 
Moiiongahela, where Washington acted as aid-de-camp to 
the conmiander. 



62 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

iDfluence of the crown, and the army of place- 
men and pensioners, would be so increased, tb^t 
all opposition to the most iniquitous measures of 
the most iniquitous ministers would be forever 
borne down. Your Lordship, I am sure, must 
be sensible that this pecuniary influence is enor- . 
mously too great, and that a very wicked use is 
made of it. On these principles, every good 
Englisliman, abstracted from any particular re- 
gard for America, must oppose her being taxed 
by the Parliament of Great Britain, or, more 
properly, by the First Lord of the Treasury ; for, 
in fact, the Parliament and Treasury have of 
late years been one and the same thing. 

" But, my Lord, I have besides a particular 
regard for America. I was long dmong them, 
and I know them to be the most loyal, afiection- 
ate, zealous subjects of the whole empire. Gen- 
eral Gage himself must acknowledge the truth 
of what I advance. He was a witness, through 
the whole course of the last war, of their zeal, 
their ardor, their enthusiasm, for whatever con- 
cerned the welfare, the interest, and the honor, 
of the mother country. 

" I think, my Lord, an English soldier owes a 
very great degree of reverence to the King, as 
first magistrate and third branch of the legisla- 
ture, called to this mighty station by the voice 
of the people ; but I think he owes a still greater 



CHARLES LEE. 63 

degree of reverence to the rights and liberties of 
h^ country. I think his country is every part 
of the empire ; that, in whatever part of the em^ 
pire a flagitious minister manifestly invades those 
rights and liberties, whether in Great Britain, 
Ireland, or America, every Englishman, soldier or 
not soldier, ought to consider their cause as his 
own ; and that the rights and liberties of this 
country are invaded, every man must see who 
has eyes, and is not determined to keep them 
shut/'* 

Having made a rapid tour through the east- 
em colonies, Lee returned to Philadelphia in 
season to be present while the first Continental 
Congress was sitting in that city. He thus had 
an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the 
members of that body, consisting of men from 
all parts of the country eminent for their tal- 
ents and patriotism, convened to deliberate on 
public afiairs, and to devise measures for obtain- 
ing a redress of grievances ; men of whom Chat- 
ham said, in Parliament, '^I must declare and 
avow, that, in the master states of the world, for 
solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wis- 

* This letter to Lord Percy was published in London 
a few months after it was written. It is contained in Al- 
mon's Remembrancer for 1775. The letter to Gage was not 
printed till many years afterwards, and it first appeared in 
America. 



\, 64 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

dom of conclusion, under such a complication 
of difficult circumstances, no nation or body- of 
*men can stand in preference to the General 
Congress at Philadelphia." * The enthusiasm of 
Lee, the heartiness with which he approved their 
proceedings and animated their zeal, his intelli- 
gence and ability, his decision and boldness, 
were suited to the moment, and all conspired 
to make a strong impression on the members of 
this Congress, and to prepare the way for future 
proofs of their confidence in so able and ardent 
a champion of their cause. 

He had other claims, also, to their notice and 
consideration: In the midst of his wanderings, 
he had found leisure to employ his pen. His 
performances in this way were published anon- 
ymously; but their style, tone, and matter, be- 
trayed their origin, which he probably took no 
pains to conceal. He was not a man to hide 
his light under a bushel, or to shrink from an 
avowal of his sentiments on all subjects before 
the tribunal of the public. Precipitate, some- 
times rash, he certainly was ; but this fault can- 
not be chaiged with selfish ends ; it was the 
excess of a bold, frank, and fearless spirit. Ti- 
midity seeks disguise ; selfishness works by cun- 
ning, craft, low intrigue, and pitiful appliances. 

* Life of the Earl of Chatham, VoL H. p. 404 



CHABLES LEE. 65 

\ With these stains the character of Lee was never 
[ tarnished. He uttered his opinions with manly 
: freedom and self-confidence, and he was reso- 
lute in defending them. His Writings in favor 
of American liberty, at this time, partake of 
these characteristics ; and, as compositions suited 
to the occasion, they have the additional merit^ 
of carrying conviction to the reader's mind, that 
they flowed equally from the head and the heart, 
pleading for justice and the rights of humanity. 
Dr. Myles Cooper, of New York, a clergyman 
of the Church of England, had written a pam- 
phlet entitled "A Friendly Address to all Rea- 
sonable Americans," in which the author entered 
into an elaborate defence of all the acts and all 
the claims of the British government in their 
proceedings towards the colonies. He was 
amazed only that the colonists should be so 
blind, weak, and obstinate, as not to see and 
confess, with humble submission, the lenity, for- 
bearance, and parental kindness of their vener- 
ated mother, in her numerous acts of grace and 
condescension to her deluded children, who were 
now rushing headlong to their ruin. He argued 
from law, precedent, the prerogatives of the King, 
and the constitutional power of Parliament, as if 
he had been a great luminary in Westminster 
Hall ; and the result of the whole was the old 
doctrine of passive obedience. Charles the First 
▼oi«. nu. 5 



06 AMBBICAN BIOGKAPHT. 

would have rewarded with a mitre so sturdjr Ml 
advocate. 

He discovered that Locke's reasonings on the 
subject of talcation Were ^^ weak and sophistical ; " 
and he affirmed^ that the tax on tea was no hard- 
ship) because the Americans were not obliged to 
*buy the tea. Nor was the learned author con- 
tent to rely on his logic and legal precedents 
alone. He must needs speak of military affairi) 
of the formidable armies of Great Britain, the 
skill and bravery of her generals, the experience 
of her veteran troops, and then contrast these 
with the undisciplined yeomanry of America, the 
want of generals, the want of military supplies^ 
the want of everything that could give consist- 
ency or strength to an army. In short, no argu- 
ments were spared which could throw discredit 
upon the principles avowed by the colonists^ re- 
proach upon their acts, and odium upon their 
cause. 

This pamphlet fell into the hands of General 
Lee. The cool effrontery and magisterial man- 
ner of the author in discussing important topics, 
of which he had no adequate knowledge, his 
utter hostility, in all points, to what the patriots 
deemed their sacred rights, and the slavish doc- 
trines he maintained, naturally exposed him te 
tevere and caustic attacks from his opponenta 
As iBL scholar and divine^ Dr. Cooper stood high 



CHARLES htt4 91 

with his party, who adopted him as a champioii 
in the political field, for which he was ill quali* 
fied, Lee's reply is marked with the peculiar)^ 
ties of his other compositions. Sallies of humor, 
irony, and glowing declamation, are mingled with 
grave argument, facts, and apposite illustrations. 
The author's political disquisitions he despatches 
?ery briefly, as the reveries of a mind so imper- 
fectly informed, or so deeply enveloped in the 
mists of prejudice, as not to require a serious 
refutation. He merely ejj^poses them in their 
native deformity. His main battery is opened 
opon Dr. Cooper's military speculations, which 
he thought more likely to mislead the public ; 
and here, standing on his own ground, he speaks 
with authority and effect, drawing a parallel be- 
tween the armies which England could bring 
across the Atlantic and those which could be 
raised on the soil of America, both as to num- 
bers and efficiency, much to the advantage of 
the latter, consisting of the yeomanry of the land, 
called out by the impulse of patriotism, and 
fighting for their firesides and their liberties. 

This performance was well timed, well adapted 
to its object, and was received with great ap- 
plause throughout the country. It unquestion- 
ably produced a strong impulse upon public 
opinion, and especially in confirming the waver- 
ing confidence of those, who had distrusted the 



68 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

abSity of the colonies to contend with the armies 
of England. One edition after another issued 
from the press; it was circulated widely, and 
read with avidity by all classes of people ; and it 
soon raised its author to a high pitch of popu- 
larity. His genius, education, experience, mili- 
tary knowledge, and enthusiastic devotion to the 
cause of the colonists, were recommendations 
which were fully recognized, and in which was 
seen the promise of an able and resolute co- 
adjutor.* 

The impressions which Lee had received, after 
a residence of ten months in the country, are 
conveyed in a letter to Sir Charles Davers, da- 
ted at Philadelphia, while the first Congress was 
in session. 

" I ' have now lately run through the colonies 
from Virginia to Boston, and can assure you, by 
all that is solemn and sacred, that there is not a 
man on the whole continent, placemen and some 

* The tract was called Strictures on a Pamphlet entitled 
A IHendly Address to all Reasonable Americans^ and was 
published in 1774. It is uncertain where it was first print- 
ed, but probably in Philadelphia. It was reprinted in New 
York, New London, and Boston, in a cheap form, for general 
circulation, and it was likewise inserted in some of the 
newspapers. In a bitter philippic by a Tory writer, under 
the title of The General attacked by a Subaltem, it is called 
a " boasted bulwark of faction," and the Whigs are abused 
for their active zeal in spreading it among the people. 



CHARLES LEE. 69 

High Churchmen excepted, who is not determined 
to sacrifice his property, his life, his wife, family, 
children, in the cause of Boston, which he justly 
considers as his own. 

" In every town in New England are formed 
companies of cadets, who are as perfect as pos- 
sible in the manual exercise, evolutions, and all 
the minute manoeuvres practised by the troops of 
Europe. The Boston company of artillery is 
allowed to be equal to any; so that, in reality, 
they have drill ofiicers sufficient to form an army 
of sixty thousand men ; and this number the 
four provinces can maintain, without neglecting 
the culture of their lands. I leave you to judge 
whether it is easy to dragoon this number, even 
if the other colonies should stand aloof. But 
they will not stand aloof. They will support 
them with their blood and treasure. The Cana- 
dians, it seems, are to be employed against them ; 
but if a single man stirs, they are determined to 
invite France and Spain to accept the prodigious 
profits which their commerce afibrds. They 
want nothing in return but arms, ammunition, and 
perhaps a few artillery officers as well as guns. 
And they certainly are to be justified by every 
law, human and divine. You will ask, where 
they will find generals. But I will ask, what 
generals have their tyrants ? In fact, the match 
in this respect will be pretty equal " 



70 AMERICAN BI06RAPHT. 

Witb this extreme freedom ifi avowing his 
•entiments, and with ihe undisguised manner in 
which he took the part of the Americans^ it is 
no wonder that liis opinions, and reports of his 
4:oDduct, should come to the ears of the ministers. 
He was an officer on half-pay in the King's ser- 
vice, and, standing in this position, he might 
aaturdly be required to forbear enlisting himself 
in the ranks of those, who were planning schemes 
for resisting the ministerial measures. Accords 
iogly, on the 17th of October, Lord Dartmouth 
wrote to General Gage, informing him of the 
intelligence he had received concerning Lee, 
who, he was told, associated with the eneipies of 
government in Boston, and encouraged a spirit of 
revolt. ^*Have an attention to his conduct," 
says the minister, " and take every legal niethod 
to prevent his effecting any of those dangerous 
purposes he is said to have in view." It does 
not appear that General Gage was the author of 
this re{yMi, although in a letter to Lord Dart- 
mouth, written a few days after Lee left Boston, 
he said, <'It has been suggested that it was 
highly necessary to apprehend a certain number 
of persons, which, I believe, would have been a 
very proper measure some time ago, but at 
present it would be the signal for hostilities, 
which they seem very ripe to begin." This step 
was subsequently urged by the ministers; but 



CHARLES LEE. 71 

Adams aad Hancock were the only individuab 
whose offences were declared to be of so flagi- 
tious a nature, as to drive them beyond the limits 
of his Majesty's pardon. 

Lee remained in Philadelphia while the first 
Congress was sitting, and then went to Viiginia 
and Maryland. In December, a convention of 
deputies from the several counties of Maryland 
met at Annapolis, to approve the proceedings of 
the Continental Congress, and to deliberate on 
public affairs. Lee was present at the meeting 
of this convention, and his counsels had much 
fveight in stirring up the members to vigorous 
action, and particularly to adopt resolutions for 
putting the militia on a better footing, forming 
them into new companies and regiments, and 
supplying them with arms and ammunition. A 
plan for the new organization was furnished by 
turn, and he personally superintended the ar- 
rangements for mustering the companies at An- 
napolis. He was delighted with the promptness 
and spirit shown by the Maryland coltvention, 
and exultingly contrasted its proceedings with 
what he called a '^ trick of adjourning and pro- 
crastinating " in some of the other provinces. At 
this same convention a lively sympathy was ex- 
pressed for the suffering inhabitants of Boston, 
then deprived of their usual means of subsistence 
by the oppressive act of Parliament for closing 



72 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the port ; and the people of all the counties were 
requested to furnish contributions for their relief. 

While at AnnapoUs, he wrote a long letter to 
Edmund Burke. After describing the condition 
of the country, the political views and temper of 
the people, and their military preparations and 
resources, he adds, 

"I shall now trouble you with a few words 
respecting myself. I find it inserted in a para- 
graph of an English newspaper, that a certain 
ofiicer (meaning me) had been busy in dissuad- 
ing the people of Boston from submitting to the 
acts. It is giving me great importance to sup- 
pose that I have influence to urge or restrain so 
vast a community in aflairs of the dearest mo- 
ment. The same paragraph adds that I had 
ofiered to put myself at their head ; but I hope 
it will not be believed that I was capable of so 
much temerity and vanity. To think myself qual- 
ified for the most important charge that ever was 
committed to mortal man, is the last stage of 
presumption. Nor do I think the Americans 
would or ought to confide in a man, let his 
qualifications be ever so great, who has no prop- 
erty among them. It is true, 1 most devoutly 
wish them success in the glorious struggle ; that 
I have expressed my wishes both in writing and 
viva voce ; but my *errand to Boston was mere 
curiosity to see a people in so singular circurn- 



CHARLES LSE. 73 

Stances ; and I had likewise an ambition to be 
acquainted with some of their leading men ; with 
them only I associated during my stay at Boston. 
Our ingenious gentlemen in the camp, therefore, 
very naturally concluded my design was to put 
myself at their head."* 

About this time he made a visit to his friend 
Gates at his residence in Berkeley county. Gates 
had advised him to purchase an estate, then on 
sale in his neighborhood, which he described as 
an excellent farm, consisting of two thousand 
four hundred acres of land. This farm, he said, 
could be purchased for three thousand six hun- 
dred pounds sterling, and at this price he thought 
it a great bargain. In ten years, with proper 
management, it would be worth seven thousand 
pounds, besides yielding a liberal income annual- 
ly in the mean time. Eighteen hundred pounds 
were required to be paid down, and the remain- 
der by easy instalments. One thousand pounds 
would be necessary to provide stock for the 
farm, and to carry forward the improvements. 
Lee made the purchase, by which it would seem 
that he had already resolved to establish his home 
in America. This estate became the place of his 
future residence, except when employed in the 
public service, till the time of his death. 

• Burke'8 Correspondepce, Vol, I. p. 514, 



74 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Hitherto, Geaeral Lee had been continually 
gaining upon the affections and confidence of 
the Americans. On all occasions he was among 
the foremost in pressing vigorous measures and 
decided action. His enthusiasm was contagious, 
enforced as it was by commanding talents, and 
an earnestness which produced an entire convic- 
tion of his sincerity. His four campaigns in 
America had enabled him not only to understand 
the condition of the colonists, their political in- 
stitutions and principles, but to study their 
character and habits ; and thus he was qualified 
to adapt himself with remarkable facility to the 
circumstances in which he was now placed. It 
was not strange, therefore, that, as the time ap- 
proached when all men saw that a resort to 
arms was inevitable, the public eye should be 
turned to him as one of the most prominent 
candidates for a high command in the service 



GHABI'SS hM^> 75 



CHAPTER VI. 

XiM appointed Major-General in the American 
Army. — Proceeds with Washington to the 
Camp at Cambridge. — His Reception by the 
Massachusetts Congress. — Correspondence with 
General Burgoyne. — Assists in reorganizing 
the Army. — Goes to Newport. — Administers 
an Oath to the Tories. 

The memorable day at Lexington and Concord 
kindled the indignation and roused the martial 
^rit of the whole people. The events of that 
dty had an electrical effect throughout New 
Gf^land. The blood of American citizens had 
been shed on their native soil. Men flew to 
their arms, and thousands hurried to the scene of 
action as if driven onward by a common impulse. 
When the British troops retreated from Lexingv 
ton, they found an asylum in Boston, where the 
whole British force was stationed, under Geaeral 
Gage. Within a few da3rs, Boston was sur- 
rounded by the militia of New England, under 
the comfhand of General Ward. 

The second Congress assembled at Philadel- 
phia, and one of their first acts was to take into 
consideration the particulars of the affair at 
Lexington. At this time, very few persons in 



76 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

the country expected a war ; yet it was evident 
to all, that, after what had passed, a resort to 
arms was necessary, if they intended to vindi- 
cate the principles and secure the rights for which 
they had so long contended by petitions, resolves, 
and public declarations. Congress therefore im- 
mediately determined to assume the attitude of 
military defence, and to embody a Continental 
army, which was to be raised and supported at 
the common charge of the nation. 

As a preliminary step, it was requisite that 
officers should be appointed to command the 
new army. Considering the relations in which 
the several colonies then stood to each other, 
and the circumstance that General Ward already 
commanded the New England army stationed 
around Boston, the task of selection was delicate. 
By a spirit of compromise, however, and by a 
wise policy on political grounds, the difficulties 
were in a great degree removed, and Washing- 
ton was unanimously chosen Commander-in-chief. 
General Ward's position so clearly pointed him 
out for the next place in rank, that he was accord- 
ingly elected the first Major-General. Charles 
Lee followed him, and, on the I7th of June, 
1775, was appointed second Major-General in 
the Continental army. Two other Major-Generals 
only were appointed at that time, namely, Schuy- 
ler and Putnam; the last being the only one of 



CHARLES LEE. 77 

the four who received the unanimous voice of 
Congress. 

There seems little room to doubt, that Lee 
had at one time flattered himself with the hope 
of being preferred^ to the chief command ; and 
probably there were persons in the country who 
had encouraged this hope. His military expe- 
rience and eminent qualities were captivating to 
the multitude. But his foreign origin interposed 
an effectual bar to such an advancement, and it 
is not likely that any member of Congress enter- 
tained the thought for a moment. It is impos- 
sible that a single considerate American could 
have been willing to repose so responsible a trust 
in any other hands than those of a citizen born 
in the country. If Lee was not content with 
this result, there is no evidence of his having 
openly expressed dissatisfaction. On the con- 
trary, he manifested a warm attachment to Wash- 
ington, and cooperated for some time cordially in 
executing his plans ; but occasional symptoms 
may be seen of his uneasiness at the superior 
rank of General Ward.* 

* The correspondence of the day furnishes a good index 
to the rumors that were afloat, and in some degree to the 
state of puhlic opinion. The following extract is from a 
letter written by an unknown person m Philadelphia, De- 
cember 26th, 1774, to a member of the British Parliament 

« The only design of this letter is to rectify some mistakes. 



78 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Before General Lee accepted a post in the 
American army, he wrote to Lord Barrington, 
Secretary at War in Great Britain, resigning the 
commission which he held in his Majesty's ser- 
Tice ; declaring, at the same tipie, that, whenever 
bis Majesty should call him to act against the 
enemies of his country, or in defence of his just 
r^hts and dignity, no man would obey the suna- 
mons with more alacrity and zeal. He con- 
demned, in strong language, the ministerial meas- 
ures against the colonies, " which he thought 
himself obliged in conscience, as a citizen, an 
Englishman, and a soldier of a free state, to exert 
his utmost to defeat." 

which have been transmitted to Ehigland, respecting the 
conduct of General Lee, who is now in America. 

"The mimstry have been made to believe, that the mili- 
tary preparations in the colonies have been recommended 
and taught entirely by that officer. Nothing can be further 
fiomfact The Americans were determined to seal their 
love of liberty with their blood long before they heard of the 
name of General Lee. The people of Massachusetts were 
armed and disciplined before General Lee visited them, and 
the Congress agreed to recommend the study of the military 
exercises to the colonies without hearing a word on the sub- 
jeet fix)m the General. It is a falsehood that he has oifere.l 
to head our troops. He has too much knowledge of the 
world not to perceive that men, who fight for all they hold 
dear to them, will prefer men bom among them for com- 
manders to the most experienced foreign officers. More- 
over, the colonies are not 80 wrapped up in General Lee'e 



eHAALES LEV. 76 

In accepting his new comitiissicMi, he made 
nciifices, or at least exposed himself to hazardiiy 
which he afterwards foand occasion to enumerate. 
Old which may be stated in this place. 

His property then consisted of an annual in- 
come of four hundred and eighty pounds sterling 
on a mortgage in Jamaica, and of two hundred 
pounds on an estate in Middlesex ; one thousand 
pounds in the stock of a county turnpike secured 
at four per cent; fifteen hundred pounds on 
bonds at five per cent ; his half-pay, one hundred 
and thirty pounds; and in his agent's handb 
twelve hundred pounds more ; so thai his whdle 
annual income was about nine bundled and forty 
pounds. He possessed likewise ten thou^nd 

militaiy accomplishments, as to give him the prefeTence to 
Colonel Putnam and Colonel Washington; men whose 
militaiy talents and achievements have placed them at the 
head of American heroes. There are several hmidrtsd 
thoosand Americans, who wbuld face any datiger with thesfe 
illustrious heroes to lead them. It is but just td General 
Lee's merit to acknowledge, that he has upon all occasioob 
exposed the folly and madness of the present administration, 
and has shown the most tender regard to the liberties of this 
country." Almon's Remembrancer, Vol. I. p. 9. 

Another contemporary Writer says, that General Lee "ex- 
pected to be unanimously chosen to the elevated station of 
the supreme command.'' Eddis's Letters, p. 237. But there 
is no evidence, that this writer knew what General Lee ex- 
pected, and his declaration is only a proof that such ah idea 
Wis in the m^ of MM ef fbA p^le. 



80 AMERICAN BIOORA?HT. 

acres of land in the - Island of St. John, with im- 
provements which had cost him nearly eight hun- 
dred pounds; a mandamus for twenty thousand 
acres in East Florida ; and a claim, as an officer 
who had served in America during the last war, 
for other lands on the Ohio, Mississippi, or in 
West Florida. Moreover, whenever he should 
choose to reside in Poland, he would receive, as 
aid-de-camp to the King, a salary of eight hun- 
dred ducats, besides the expenses of living suit- 
able to that rank. " Such," he says, " were the 
fortune and income, which I staked on the die 
of American liberty ; and I played a losing game, 
for I might lose all, and had no prospect or wish 
to better it." 

This property was in the control of the British 
government, and, under the circumstances of 
Lee's defection from the royal cause, reasonable 
apprehensions might certainly have been enter- 
tained that it would be confiscated; yet, in the 
exuberance of his zeal, he ran the risk. It should 
be observed, however, that, although he did not 
stipulate for any indemnification, he nevertheless 
had a conference with a committee of Congress 
before he accepted his commission, and laid be- 
fore them an estimate of his property. In con. 
sequence of the report of this committee, it was 
resolved, as recorded in the Secret Journal, that 
the colonies should indemnify General Lee for 



X 



GHABLBS LEE. 81 

any loss of property he might sustain by entering 
into their service. 

He was in Philadelphia at the time of his ap- 
pointment by Congress, and was thus prepared 
to accompany General Washington to the head- 
quarters of the army, then at Cambridge. They 
began their journey without delay, and were 
escorted by a volunteer troop of light-horse as 
&r as New York. While on their route, they 
heard the intelligence of the battle of Bunker's. 
Hill. The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts 
was at this time sitting at Watertown, and pro- 
vision was made for receiving the two Generals in 
a suitable manner, with public tokens of respect 
for their character and rank. A committee of the 
Congress repaired to Springfield, with direction to 
await the arrival of the Generals, and accompany 
them to Watertown. They were escorted from 
place to place by successive troops of horse, and 
were everywhere greeted with demonstrations of 
joy by the people. 

On the 2d of July they reached Watertown, 
and General Washington was saluted by the 
Congress with a congratulatory address, to which 
he responded in appropriate terms. A separate 
address, similar in its tone, was likewise presented 
to Greneral Lee. The estimation in which his 
merits were held by these legislators of Massa- 
chusetts, and the benefits they expected from his 

VOL. VIII. 6 



8S AMERICAN BIOOmAPHT. 

■ervices, are forcibly expressed. After annotm* 
cing their ^^satisfaction and gratitude" at hii 
appointment, they go on to say, <^ We admire 
and respect the character of a man, who» dn>> 
regarding the allurements of profit and distinotioii 
his merit might procure, engages in the ca«uB 
of mankind, in defence of the injured, and relief 
of the oppressed. From your character, from 
your great abilities and military experience, unk^ 
ed with those of the Commander-in-chief, under 
the smiles of Providence, we flatter ourselves 
with the prospect of discipline and order, su«>> 
cess and victory." This language is explicit; 
and, in fact, the attentions and marks of public 
respect proffered to him, at the time of his join«> 
ing the army, were little short of those bestowed 
upon Washington himself. They fiimish a proof 
of the extraordinary confidence with which he 
was r^arded, and of the high position he oo*' 
cupied in the favorable opinion of the country^ 
A few days before 'General Lee accepted his 
commission in the American army, he wrote a 
letter to his friend General Burgoyne, then lately 
arrived in Boston. The reader will remember 
the campaign, which they performed together in 
Portugal thirteen years before, and in which they 
both gained applause. Buigoyne came out to 
take a command in the army under General 
Guge* This opp<Mrtanity wm teiied by Lee to 



CHARLCS !»«<• Bt 

expoBtriate with his friend on the part he was 
ieting against the colonies, or, in other words, 
against what he regarded the sacred cause of 
fiberty and right. 

"I most devoutly wish," said he, "that your 
industry, valor, and military talents, may be re^- 
lerved for a more honorable and virtuous ser- 
fsfte, against the natural enemies of your country, 
ixkd not to be wasted in ineffectual .attempts to 
reduce to the wretchedest state of servitude the 
mo6t meritorious part of your fellow-subjects. I 
flay, Sir, that any attempts to accomplish this 
service must be ineffectual. You cannot pos- 
sibly succeed. No man is better acquainted 
with the state of this country than myself. I 
have run through almost the whole colonies from 
the north to the south, and from the south to the 
north. I have conversed with all orders of men, 
and can assure you that the same spirit animates 
the whole." 

He is surprised that such men as Burgoyne 
and Howe should be willing to become the in- 
striiments of oppression in executing schemes so 
hostile to the free spirit of the British constitu- 
tion, to every generous principle, to every noble 
virtue, and every sentiment of justice. He as- 
sails the ministry with his usual acrimony, assigns 
no better motives for their conduct than " des* 
{Mitisni " and ^ vengeance," and declares his uii^ 



84 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

alterable determination to join heart and hand 
with the Americans, in resisting these tyrannical 
encroachments upon their liberties. Before he 
sent this letter, he had the precaution to read 
it to several members of the Continental Con- 
gress. 

These sallies of zeal and of indignant chai^[es 
upon the ministry were taken in good part by 
General Burgoyne, who understood the head and 
the heart, the temper and principles, the eccenr 
trie humors and chivalrous enthusiasm of the 
man from whom they emanated. Six days after 
the arrival of the American Generals in camp, 
a trumpeter was sent out from Boston with an 
answer to the above letter. General Burgoyne 
recognizes the bond of friendship, and regrets 
that the vicissitude of human affairs should place 
them in any sense in the attitude of foes. He 
claims respect for his opinions, however, and the 
right of being guided by them in his conduct, 
and then explains his sentiments on the great 
points at issue between the two countries, and 
declares his unqualified approbation of the meas- 
ures pursued by the ministers. 

He argues the matter coolly, and touches upon 
the prominent topics, but with little novelty in 
argument or illustration. The weight of his 
reasonings rests on the pivot of parliamentary 
supremacy; but, like all other reasoners on that 



CHARLES LEE. 85 

ride of the question, he overlooks the inevitable 
consequence, that this supremacy, carried to the 
length contended for, would authorize the Par- 
liament to do wrong as well as right, and to 
compel submission equally to both, without any 
means of redress on the part of a people not 
represented. Against this monstrous doctrine 
the colonists took up arms, and demanded the 
privilege of judging for themselves when their 
liberties and property were invaded by a power 
claiming to be supreme, over which they had 
no control by representation or influence. 

In conclusion, the writer solicited an amicable 
interview with his friend, flattering himself that 
such an interview might in its consequences tend 
to peace, and to the restoring to their senses 
" the unhappy deluded bulk of this country, who 
foresee not the distress that is impending." He 
proposed a meeting on Boston Neck, within the 
British lines, and requested his correspondent to 
name the day and hour, pledging his parole of 
honor for General Lee's safe return. 

This proposal involved considerations of too 
much delicacy to be precipitately accepted. No 
one doubted his attachment to the American 
cause ; yet, being a foreigner, and recently in his 
Majesty's service, his holding conferences with 
British oflficers, within the enemy's lines, how- 
ever pure and praiseworthy his motives, would 



39 AMEHIC^N HIQGItAPHT. 

aolumlly excite suspicions, and could hardly fiul 
to be construed to his disadvantage. This view 
of the subject doubtless struck his mind, and 
prompted the resolution, so seldom taken by 
bim, of calling the virtue of prudence to his aid. 
ile sent the letter to the Provincial Congress, 
find requested their advice, expressing his wisfe, 
at the same time, that, if the proposed interview 
sjiould be approved, they would delegate one of 
their body to attend him, and hear what should 
pass at the conference. 

The subject was duly considered by the Con- 
gress, who replied, that, having the ^^ highest con- 
fidence in the wisdom, discretion, and integrity, 
of General Lee," they could have no objection 
to the interview on this score ; but they doubted 
it^ policy, and feared it would lead to unfavor- 
able constructions of his motives and conduct, 
and thereby lessen the influence which it was 
important for him to maintain in his present 
station. They left the affair to his own judg- 
ment, however, and appointed Mr. Gerry to at- 
tend him, in case he should accede to the pro- 
posal. The question was likewise submitted to 
a council of officers in the army, who gave sim- 
ilar advice, and the project was abandoned. 
General Lee declined the proposal in a compli- 
mentary note to General Bui^oyne. 

For several days after their arrival in Cam- 



CHARLES LEE* 87 

bridge^ the two Generals, with their military fiui^ 
ilies, occupied the same house, one room being 
reserved for the use of the President of the 
Provincial Congress. Thb house was provided 
and furnished at the public charge, and contin- 
ued to be the head-quarters of General Wash- 
ington till after the evacuation of Boston. As 
soon as the army was arranged, however, and 
the Continental commissions were distributed, 
Greneral Lee took command of the left wing, his 
head-quarters being at Winter Hill, near Mystic 
River, in full view of the British works on Bun- 
ker's Hill. The right wing, at Roxbury, was 
commanded by General Ward ; the centre, at 
Cambridge, by General Putnam. 
* As no active operations of importance oo- 
corred during the season, the principal attention 
was directed to constructing fortifications, tac^ 
tics, and discipline. In dl these duties, and in 
his cordial cooperation with the Commander-in- 
chief, Greneral Lee fully sustained his high repu- 
tation as an officer, and continued to establish 
himself more and more firmly in the confidence 
of the public. His knowledge and experience in 
military afiairs were turned to good account, 
when tlie commissioners from the Continental 
Congress came to the camp, empowered and in- 
structed to unite with General Washington in 



88 AMERICAN BIOGRAFHT. 

devising a plan for reorganizing the army, and 
placing it on a permanent foundation. His in- 
fluence was also exerted to assuage the discon- 
tents which existed among some of the general 
officers, on the ground of the rank assigned to 
them by the Continental Congress, and to per- 
suade them to accept their commissions, and 
allow their personal feelings to be controlled by 
the higher principles of patriotism and public 
duty. On these points, his arguments and ap- 
peals flowed from a liberal spirit and mature 
judgment, and they were not without salutary 
effects. 

About the middle of December, intelligence 
was brought from Boston to General Washing- 
ton, that preparations were making to send off* 
a body of troops by water, under General Clin- 
ton. It was naturally inferred, that this expedi- 
tion was destined to the southward, possibly to 
Rhode Island or New York. Despatches were 
immediately forwarded to the authorities of those 
places, to put them on their guard. Governor 
Cooke, of Rhode Island, replied that Newport 
was in a very defenceless state, containing many 
avowed loyalists, or Tories, as they were generally 
called, and equally destitute of fortifications and 
troops. He requested that a detachment from 
the Continental army might march to Rhode 



CHA&LE8 LEE. 89 

bland, under a skilful commander, and men- 
tioned General Lee, as an officer who would be 
highly acceptable to the people. 

No troops could be spared from the army; 
but General Lee set off immediately, with his 
guard, and a party of riflemen. At Providence 
be was joined by a company of cadets, and a 
number of minute men. With this small force, 
which was designed rather as an escort, in tes- 
timony of respect for his rank, than for any mil- 
itary object, he proceeded to Newport. He 
found the inhabitants in great dread of an armed 
vessel in the harbor, commanded by Captain 
Wallace, who had for some time held the town 
in awe by the terror of his guns, by his depre- 
dations upon the small craft in the bay, and his 
threats of vengeance upon the town, if he were 
not supplied with provisions according to his de- 
mands. The Tories also took courage under his 
protection, and set at defiance the authority of 
the l^slature and patriotic committees. 

It was not in the power of General Lee, with 
his small force, to repel these aggressions ; nor 
did he make the attempt. During his short stay 
in Newport, he pointed out certain places most 
suitable for erecting works of defence, and gave 
such advice and directions as the occasion would 
permit. 

His indignation was particul^ly bent uppn the 



90 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

Tories, whom he regarded as enemies to their 
country, and as deserving no forbearance. He 
summoned before him persons suspected of dis- 
affection to the cause of the country, and required 
them to subscribe a very solemn oath, declaring 
that they would ^^ neither directly nor indirectly 
assist the wicked instruments of ministerial tyran- 
ny and villany, commonly called the King's troops 
and navy, by furnishing them with provisions or 
refreshments of any kind, unless authorized by 
the Continental Congress, or the legislature, as at 
present established, of this particular colony of 
Rhode Island ; " and also that they would con- 
vey no intelligence to the enemy, and would in- 
form against any one whom they should know 
to be guilty of such a crime ; and that they 
would take up arms, and submit to military dis- 
cipline, when called upon by the proper author- 
ity, <^ in defence of the common rights and liber- 
ties of America." Colonel Wanton and two of 
the King's custom-house officers refused to take 
this oath, and it does not appear that any means 
of coercion were used. After completing this 
service, General Lee returned to the camp at 
Cambridge. 

The policy of such an oath, administered 
under such circumstances, may perhaps be ques* 
'tioned. It might deter offenders through fear 
of detection, bu^it could toaroely weigh upon 



CHARLBS I«SE. 91 

the conscience, or soften the will. Thb step was 
deemed important, however, at the time, and 
was evidently approved by General Washington. 
When he communicated a copy of the oath to 
the President of Congress, he said, '^ General Lee 
has just returned from his excursion to Rhode 
Island. He has pointed out the best method the 
idand would admit of for its defence. He has 
endeavored, all in his power, to make friends of 
those that were our enemies. You have, en- 
closed, a specimen of his abilities in that way, 
for your perusal. I am of opinion, that if the 
same plan was pursued through every province, 
it would have a very good effect." This lan- 
guage, whether he advised the oath or not, 
amounts to a decided approbation of the meas- 
ure. General Lee himself seems not to have put 
much confidence in the oath as a check to the 
c<mduct of the Tories, but he regarded it as a 
test by which those who were inveterate in their 
hostility m^ht be known. <'I confess," he ob- 
serves, *^ that men so eaten up with bigotry, as the 
bulk of them appear to be, will argue it is by no 
means obligatory ; but, if I mistake not, it will 
be a sort of criterion by which you will be able 
to distinguish the desperate fanatics from those 
who are reclaimable." 



93 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Takes the Command in New York. — Alarm of 
the Inhabitants, — Enters the City with Troops 
from Connecticut. — His Plan of Defence. — 
Fortifies the City. — Takes Measures for seiz- 
ing the Tories. — Appointed to the Command in 
Canada, and subsequently to that of the south- 
em Department. 

The sailing of a detachment of British troops 
from Boston continued to be a source of anxiety 
to the American commander. It was strongly 
suspected that they were destined for New York, 
where there were neither troops nor other means 
of defence. On Long Island also the Tories 
were numerous and bold, and a majority of the 
voters had refused to send delegates to the Con- 
tinental Congress^ These persons were in close 
alliance with Governor Tryon, who had taken 
refuge on board a man-of-war in the harbor of 
New York, and could easily furnish them with 
arms. The citizens and public authorities were 
restrained from resolute action by their fears of 
the armed vessels, which could at any moment 
batter down the houses, or lay the city in ashes, 
•and which exacted a constant supply of pro- 
visions. A few months before, when the people 



CHARLES LEE. 93 

undertook to remove the cannon from the fort, 
Captain Vandeput, commander of the Asia, an 
armed ship of sixty-four guns, had fired upon the 
town and wounded several of the citizens. Thus 
exposed and intimidated, the inhabitants and 
provincial government of New York had ab- 
stained from all preparations in the city for 
annoying the enemy, or even for defence. 

In a military point of view. New York was a 
station too important to the whole country to be 
neglected. By possessing it, the enemy would 
comnnand the Hudson, and might open a com- 
munication with Canada, and thereby obstruct, if 
not cut off entirely, the intercourse between the 
eastern and middle colonies. General Washing- 
ton was deeply impressed with the necessity of 
protecting New York; yet it was not in his 
power to detach an adequate force from the army 
under his command, without subjecting himself 
to the imminent hazard of being attacked and 
defeated in his camp. The provincial army 
raised in New England, and adopted by the 
Continental Congress, had been dissolved, the time 
for which the men had enlisted was just expiring, 
the regiments under the- new organization were 
slowly filling up, and he was obliged to call in a 
body of militia as a temporary substitute. 

The state of affairs demanded decisive and 
immediate action. Notwithstanding the tard^ 



94 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

and timid counsels of the authorities in New 
York, and their reluctance to take any steps for 
military preparations, it was believed that a body 
of volunteers sufficient for the occasion might be 
expeditiously raised in Connecticut, where the 
fire of patriotism burned brightly, and the mar- 
tial spirit of the people was awake. Eager to 
make the experiment, General Lee solicited the 
command from Washington, with such instruc- 
tions as would enable him to collect the troops 
and employ them, as circumstances might re- 
quire, both for the defence of the city, and for 
disarming and securing the Tories on Long Island. 
" Not to crush these serpents," said he, " before 
their rattles are grown, would be ruinous." 

Washington had no doubt of the importance 
of the measure, but, with his usual distrust of his 
powers, and his scrupulous caution not to exer- 
cise them beyond the strict intention of those 
from whom they were derived, a virtue which in 
the end contributed more than any other to the 
salvation of his country, he felt embarrassed, as 
to the course he should pursue. Congress had 
appointed him to the command of the American 
army ; but did this imply that he should send 
troops to any point, and call on the local gov- 
ernments to supply men and means ? As yet no 
such authority had been expressly granted. Lee 
would have cut the knot at once. ** Your situa^ 



CHARLES LEE. 95 

tton is such," said he, ^^ that the salvation of the 
whole depends on your striking, at certain crises, 
vigorous strokes, without previously communical- 
ing your intention." Washington was perfectly 
satisfied that the pul^c service required this lati- 
tude of construction ; but how far it had been 
anticipated by Congress, or to what extent he 
could act in conformity with it under his cooi- 
mission, were questions not so clear in his own 
mind. 

At this time Mr. John Adams, a member of 
Congress, was on a visit to his constituents in 
Massachusetts. His opinion was asked concem- 
iDg the views of Congress, and the extent of 
General Washington's powers. With his accus- 
tomed promptness and zeal for hi9 country's 
cause, he replied, that he regarded the authority 
of the Commander-in-chief as ample for the ob- 
ject in contemplation; that all the American 
forces were under his command, whether regular 
troops or volunteers, and that he was invested 
with full power to repel invasion, and act for the 
good of the service in every part of the country. 
Confirmed by this opinion of one of the ablest 
and most active members of Congress, who bad 
himself been on the committee for framing his 
coomiission and instructions, the Commander-in- 
chief hesitated no longer, but immediately gave 
onders for effirotiiig Che eoterprste. 



96 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

General Lee left Cambridge on the 11th of 
January, 1776, attended by a small escort He 
was instructed to proceed to New York, having 
collected volunteers on his way, and, when he 
should arrive there, to call to his assistance a 
regiment from New Jersey, and then to put the 
city in the best posture of defence which circum- 
stances would admit, and disarm the Tories on 
Long Island. General Washington previously 
wrote to Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, 
explaining the object of the enterprise, and re- 
questing his cooperation. That ardent patriot, 
always foremost as well in vigorous action as in 
zeal and public spirit, immediately issued orders 
for raising two regiments by voluntary enlist- 
ment, each consisting of seven hundred and fifty 
men. Within two weeks' the regiments were full, 
with an additional body of three hundred vol- 
unteers from Hartford county. 

When General Lee arrived at Stamford, he 
was disabled by a severe fit of the gout, which 
compelled him to stop for a few days. Mean- 
time, the news of his approach with an armed 
force reached New York. The people, panic- 
struck with the apprehension of immediate war, 
and trembling under the fear of hot shot and 
bomb-shells from the armed vessels in the harbor, 
were filled with consternation, and began to re- 
move their effects from the town. The Com- 



OHARLES LEE. 91 

mittee of Safety, in whose hands the government 
then rested during a recess of the Provincial 
Congress, partook of the popular feeling, and 
expressed astonishment that troops should be 
marched into New York without their consent 
having first been obtained. They wrote a letter 
to General Lee, which he received at Stamford, 
deprecating all military demonstrations, which 
should disturb the repose of the city by provoking 
the hostility of the enemy's ships, and conjuring 
him not to march liis troops beyond the confines 
of Connecticut, till they should have a further 
explanation of his designs. 

In reply to this letter, which he called " woful- 
ly hysterical," he explained the objects of the 
expedition, and assured the committee, that there 
was no intention of committing hostilities upon 
the men-of-war, and that the whole design was 
to protect and secure the city, by preventing the 
enemy from taking post there, or gaining a lodg- 
ment on Long Island. No active operations of a 
hostile character were intended ; and he adds, 
" If the ships of war are quiet, I shall be quiet ; 
but I declare solemnly, that, if they make a 
pretext of my presence to fire upon the town, the 
first house set in flames by their guns shall be the 
funeral pile of some of their best friends." 

He was convinced, also, that the enemy would 

VOL. VIII. 7 



98 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

commit no such folly as that of burning the sea- 
port towns, which were their only strongholds in 
the country. '^ The menacing of destruction to 
them might indeed be of admirable use, but the 
real destruction of them must extinguish all hopes 
of success." Moreover, if Governor Tryon, and 
the captains of the men-of-war, were to pre- 
scribe what number of troops should enter the 
town, they must be regarded as absolute dictators, 
a humiliation to which he trusted the freemen of 
New York were not disposed to submit. To 
quiet the alarms of the people, however, and 
soothe the anxieties of the committee, he prom- 
ised to take with him into the city a part only of 
his force, till measures should be adopted for its 
permanent security. 

At the same time he despatched a spirited and 
excellent letter to the President of the Conti- 
nental Congress, suggesting plans for the defence 
of the city, and above all for defeating the 
machinations of the Tories, by disarming them, 
exacting oaths of allegiance to their country, and 
confining such as continued obstinate and active 
in their opposition. He had no mantle of charity 
for the sins of these people. Their covert prac- 
tices and secret alliance with the enemy rendered 
them more dangerous than open foes, who came 
with arms in their hands, and whose movements 



CHARLES LEE. 



99 



might be known and met in fair encounter. In 
his opinion, this poison of disaffection was to 
be eradicated without scruple or forbearance.* 
As soon as the movements of General Lee 
were known in the Continental Congress, three 
members of that body were appointed, at the 
suggestion of the New York delegates, to meet 
and confer with him concerning his plans and 
operation. They proceeded immediately to New 
York. Meantime General Lee, remaining ill at 
Stamford, ordered a regiment of Connecticut 
troops, under Colonel Waterbury, to march into 
the city. The colonel preceded his troops, and 
gave notice of their approach. The alarm of 
the Committee of Safety was now at its highest 
point; and moreover they felt their dignity a 
little wounded, as they conceived that no military 
officer could march troops into the city without 
their consent. Indeed, they had passed a reso- 
lution, declaring that all troops within the limits 
of New York would be under their control. 
They complained, hesitated, disagreed among 
themselves, and took no measures to provide for 
the regiment when it should arrive. Colonel 
Waterbury's patience was exhausted, and he told 
them that the troops tvere expected in a few 



^ The letter may be seen in Marshall's Life of Washing- 
ton, Yd. n. Appendix, p. 64. 



100 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

hours, and that he should at all events place 
them in the vacant barracks, where they must 
remain till he should receive further orders from 
his commander. 

Just at this crisis Greneral Lee arrived, having 
been conveyed from Stamford in a litter, which 
he caused to be constructed for the purpose. 
Hb presence, and that of the members of Cori- 
gress deputed to meet him, contributed to as- 
suage the rising terrors of the Committee of 
Safety. The conferences were harmonious and 
conciliatory. It was agreed that the town could 
not be fortified against the enemy's ships ; but 
it was proposed to erect batteries, at commanding 
points, of sufficient extent to contain two thou- 
sand men, and also on both sides of the narrow 
pass at Hell Gate. A fortified camp was like- 
wise to be formed on Long Island, opposite to 
New York ; and military works were to be con- 
structed in the Highlands, and guarded by a 
battalion. Such was the plan, and General Lee 
thought it judicious and complete. It only re- 
mained to carry it into execution. 

General Clinton entered the harbor of New 
York on the same day that Lee arrived in the 
city. No troops came with him, and he gave 
out that his object was merely to pay a visit to 
his friend Governor Tryon, who was then on 
board one of the armed vessels. '< If it is really 



CHABLES LKE. 101 

8o/' said Lee, ''it is the most whimsical piece 
of civility I ever heard of. He informs us, that 
his intention is for North Carolina, where he 
expects five regiments from England ; that he 
only brought two regiments of light infantry from 
Boston. This is certainly a droll way of pro- 
ceeding. To communicate his full plan to the 
enemy is too. novel to be credited." Yet, novel 
as it was, the intelligence proved to be accurate, 
as we shall see in the sequel. 

The General lost no time in prosecuting his 
plans for the defence of the city. In this mat- 
ter he had the cooperation of the public author- 
ities ; but on one point there was an irreconcilable 
difierence of opinion between them. The arm- 
ed vessels had hitherto been supplied with pro- 
visions from the shore. General Lee remonstra- 
ted strongly against this kind of intercourse, as 
incompatible with the relations in which the two 
parties stood to each other, and he desired to 
cut it off at once. The fear of the enemy's can- 
non, however, was more powerful than his elo- 
quence, and he finally yielded the point, and the 
more readily as it did not interfere with the ex 
ecution of his plans of defence. 

At the southern extremity of the city stood 
an old fort, originally the work of the Dutch, 
and subsequently enlarged and maintained by 
the British colonial government. To this was 



102 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

attached a battery facing the water, well lined 
with cannon, and the commander of the Asia 
had threatened destruction to the town if these 
should be removed. Regardless of this threat, 
Greneral Lee ordered them to be secured. They 
were seized at noonday, and even the men and 
boys assisted, with wonderful alacrity, to remove 
them to a place of safety. From this circum- 
stance he inferred, that the leaders only were 
timid and lukewarm, and that the people gen- 
erally were as well affected to the patriotic cause 
as any on the continent. 

He was disappointed in some of his expec- 
tations. The committee of Congress had agreed 
that five thousand men were necessary at New 
York, and he had flattered himself with the hope 
that this number would be provided ; but his 
force never amounted to more than about sev- 
enteen hundred. It consisted of the two Con- 
necticut regiments, one from New Jersey under 
Lord Stirling, and four hundred minute men. 
At this critical time the authorities of New York 
were extremely tardy in raising men, even for 
the protection of their own firesides; and al- 
though they permitted their neighbors to per- 
form this task, yet they looked on with an apa- 
thy and indifference, which the ardent spirit of 
General Lee could not easily comprehend or 
pardon. This untoward state of affairs, how 



CHARLES LEE. 103 

ever, seemed to have no other effect on him, 
than to sharpen his zeal and quicken his activity. 

He began the construction of three redoubts 
on Long Island opposite to the city, which ulti- 
mately constituted a part of the works on the 
heights of Brooklyn. One regiment was em- 
ployed in this service, and 'the other two regi- 
ments, and two hundred minute men, were sta- 
tioned in New York. .Another body of minute 
men was stationed at Hell Gate, where they 
built a redoubt on the western side of the pass. 
He made no attempts to annoy the ships, but con- 
tented himself with erecting batteries and other 
works of defence. He pulled down the wall of 
the old fort next to the town, to prevent its be- 
ing converted into a citadel by the enemy, and 
threw barricades across the principal streets near 
the water, and fortified some of them with cannon. 

His zeal and energy, however, were not con- 
fined to these military preparations. He re- 
garded it as a special and imperious duty to 
crush the spirit of disaffection by subduing or 
disabling the Tories, some of whom lurked in the 
city, and many others nestled on Long Island. 
Their names and characters were notorious. En- 
couraged by the presence of Governor Tryon, 
and the armed ships in the harbor, they were 
bold in their opposition, and took little pains to 
conceal their designs, as to the part they intend- 



104 AMERICAN BIOO&APHT. 

ed to act. The Continental Congress had al- 
ready sent a regiment of New Jersey troops to 
Long Island, for the purpose of taking away their 
arms; but these could easily be supplied by the 
enemy. A resolution had likewise been passed, 
recommending to the provincial governments to 
seize the more troublesome and dangerous Tories, 
and authorizing them to call to their aid the 
Continental troops. 

General Lee put a broader construction upon 
this resolution than it was probably designed to 
bear. The intention seems to have been, that 
the management of the Tories should be in the 
charge of the civil authorities of the provinces 
in which they resided, and not in that of the 
military, or even of the Continental Congress 
itself. This distinction was overlooked by Gen- 
eral Lee,, and he issued orders for seizing the 
Tories, and for tendering to them the same for- 
midable oath, that he had prescribed to the dis- 
affected persons in Rhode Island. In this pro- 
ceeding he was borne out by his instructions from 
General Washington ; but it was not satisfactory 
to the New York Congress, who were jealous 
of military interference. His firmness was not 
shaken by this jealousy, although he expressed 
entire submission to the civil authority in cases 
which did not conflict with the public service, 
or the positive duties of his command. 



OHA&LISS LEE. 105 

The unfortunate issue of the last campaign in 
Canada, and the fall of the brave Montgomery 
under the walls of Quebec, impressed on Con* 
gross the importance of appointing a successor to 
that general, whose character and talents should 
inspire pubUc confidence, and afford the surest 
guaranty for future success. General Lee was 
selected for this arduous station about two weeks 
after he arrived in New York. The estimation 
in which he was held by the representatives of 
the nation may be understood by a letter from 
Mr. John Adams, who was then in Congress. 
" We want you at New York ; we want you at 
Cambridge ; we want you in Virginia ; but Can- 
ada seems of more importance than any of those 
places, and therefore you are sent there. I wish 
you as many laurels as Wolfe and Montgomery 
reaped there, with a happier fate." 

A few days afterwards, however, his destina- 
tion was changed. Rumor and other indications 
made it nearly certain, that the enemy were 
preparing for a descent upon the Southern States. 
The detachment from Boston under General 
Clinton had passed in that direction, and there 
were reasons for expecting reenforcements from 
England destined to cooperate with him. To 
meet this crisis. General Lee was ordered to 
take command of the southern department. 

He remained a month in New York, during 



106 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

which time hb vigilance and activity were un- 
remitted. Considering the wavering temper of 
the provincial authorities, and the kind of hor- 
ror with which they at first beheld his presence 
with an armed force, he deserves credit for the 
prudence and discretion with which he contrived 
to conciliate their favor and gain their acquies- 
cence, if he failed to raise their zeal to the same 
degree of heat as his own. He was resolute 
and successful in effecting his military objects, 
although he forbore, as a matter of expediency, 
to insist on points of minor weight. Out of def- 
erence to the fears of some of the principal in- 
habitants, which he believed wholly chimerical, 
he had allowed the intercourse to go on between 
the enemy's ships and the city, under certain 
restraints ; but even this license wore heavily 
upon his patience, and it is doubtful if he would 
have tolerated it much longer. The New York 
Congress sent to him a copy of regulations for 
continuing to supply the armed vessels with pro- 
visions, which he was desired to examine and 
approve. He replied, that " he was to resign the 
command to Lord Stirling that night ; but, if he 
were to continue, he would not consent to sup- 
ply them with any provisions, as they were at 
open war with us; that he hoped Lord Stirling 
would be of the same opinion ; and that his in- 
structions from the Continental Congress were 



CHARLES LEE. 107 

to use every means in his power for the defence 
of the city." 

These differences of opinion, though they ex- 
isted continually, did not mar or retard the prog- 
ress of his main undertaking; and his works of 
defence, both in their location and construction, 
were allowed to have been judiciously planned 
and executed, and they were turned to good ac- 
count six weeks afterwards, when Washington 
with the Continental army arrived in New York. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Proceeds to Virginia. — His Operations against 
Lord Dunmore. — Consiructs armed Boats for 
the Rivers, — Recommends the Use of Spears, 
— Attempts to form a Body of Cavalry,— ^ 
Advises the Seizure of Governor Eden, — In- 
tercepted Letters unfold the Plan of the Ene- 
my. — Removal of disaffected Persons, — Let- 
ter to Patrick Henry, urging a Declaration of 
Independence, — Enemy land in North Caro- 
lina, — He marches to meet them, and advances 
to South Carolina, 

General Lee resigned his command in New 
York on the 6th of March, 1776. After passing 



108 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

a few days in Philadelphia, to ascertain the views 
and receive the instructions of Congress, he pro- 
ceeded to Williamsburg, in Virginia, where he 
arrived on the 29th of the same month. Lord 
Dunmore, at this time, held possession of the 
waters of Virginia with a naval force. He had 
proclaimed martial law, offered freedom to the 
slaves who would rally under his banner, and, 
by threats or persuasion, had prevailed on many 
persons to embrace the royal cause and join his 
ranks. With this motley company of recruits, 
aided by his ships, he had committed ravages on 
the shores of James River, and Norfolk had 
been destroyed ; but he was thwarted in his at- 
tempt to burn Hampton, and was beaten in the 
severe action at the Great Bridge. 

To repel these aggressions, the militia seized 
their arms, and hurried to the scene of strife. 
Regular troops were, raised by the Assembly, 
amounting, in the whole, to nine regiments, 
which were taken into the Continental army. 
When General Lee took the command, these 
regiments, not then entirely filled up, were sta- 
tioned at different points along the borders of 
the Chesapeake Bay, on a comprehensive plan 
of defence. A regiment frc«n North Carolina 
had also come forward to aid in the common 
cause. 

The principal attention was, of course, directed 



CHARLES LEE. 109 

to the motions of Lord Dunmore, whose little 
fleet was then at anchor in Elizabeth River, near 
Portsmouth. It consisted of the armed vessels 
Liverpool, Kingfisher, Otter, Roebuck, Dunmore, 
William, Anna, and about twenty tenders. The 
Liverpool carried twenty-eight guns ; the others 
were of smaller force. To these were joined 
seventy or eighty merchant vessels, belonging to 
the loyalists, or prizes, with valuable cargoes on 
board, estimated to be worth one hundred and 
forty thousand pounds sterling. A small body of 
regular troops, a regiment of blacks, the ma- 
rines, and the sailors of the trading vessels, con- 
stituted his strength for operations on land. 
Connected with the fleet was a camp on shore, 
fortified by an intrenchment, whence he ob- 
tained supplies of water. 

The arrival of General Lee was hailed with 
joy by the inhabitants of Virginia, and especially 
by the Committee of Safety at Williamsburg, in 
whose hands the executive government of the 
province was then deposited, during the recess 
of the Convention, and at the head of whom 
was Edmund Pendleton. They manifested a 
cordial wish to unite and cooperate with him in 
every available plan for putting the military af- 
fairs of the province in the best condition, which 
circumstances and their means would admit. In 
bis letters to his friends, be acknowledges their 



110 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

noble spirit and vigibnt activity, though he com- 
plains of their economy as cramping, in some 
degree, the expansive schemes which his burning 
zeal was eager to put in execution. His jfirst 
task was to obtain reports from the officers at 
the several stations, detailing the exact state of 
the army, particularly from those in the neigh- 
borhood of Lord Dunmore ; and next, to send 
out parties to reconnoitre and examine such 
places as were most accessible to the attacks of 
the enemy, or at which preparations for annoy- 
ance might be made. 

Considering the number of creeks and naviga- 
ble streams with which Virginia was intersected, 
he thought it extremely important that these 
should be guarded by armed boats ; and he im- 
mediately applied himself to this object. Two 
weeks after his arrival in Williamsburg, he writes 
thus to Richard Henry Lee, then a member of 
Congress at Philadelphia. 

"I propose fitting your rivers with twelve or 
eighteen-oared boats, mounting a six-pounder at 
the head of each, fortifying the sides with occa- 
sional mantlets, musket-proof, and manning them 
with stout volunteers, whose principle should be 
boarding. I am mistaken, when we are suffi- 
ciently provided with fleets of this kind, if a sin- 
gle tender will show itself in your rivers. I 
have already, for experiment's sake, sent out one 



CHABLES LEE* 111 

boat, armed and principled in this manner, on a 
cruise, and expect with impatience the issue. 
The men have their cutlasses and pistols, and 
seem to taste the project. I shall order twenty 
for each great river. The expense is trifling, 
and the spirit, the very principle of coming to 
close quarters, will naturally inspire the people 
¥dth confidence in their own force and valor. 

" Another great point I seem in a fan* way of 
obtaining; the conciliating your soldiers to the 
use of spears. We had a battalion out this 
day ; two companies of the strongest and tallest 
were armed with this weapon ; they were formed, 
something like the Triarii of the Romans, in the 
rear of the battalions, occasionally either to throw 
themselves into the intervals of the line, or form 
a third, second, or front rank, in close order. It 
has a fine eflect to the eye, and the men, in 
general, seemed convinced of the utility of the 
arrangement." 

On another occasion, he recommends the use 
of spears to the government of North Carolina. 
" As to arms," he says, " I believe it will be im- 
possible to procure them, unless you have on 
the frontiers a suflicient number of rifles. For 
my own part, I like these for the battalions even 
better than muskets, particularly if you can con- 
ciliate your men to the use of spears. I never 
had, in my life, any opinion of bayonets. Mjr 



lis AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

opinion may appear singular; but it is Gertaid 
they never have been used, though we heat so 
frequently of attacking with bayonets." It doeit 
not follow that he preferred spears to musket% 
even for any part of the troops, but only a& A 
substitute for arms, which, at this stage of the 
war, could not be procured. To remedy. this 
deficiency as far as he could, he sent officers to 
the interior of the country, to purchase rifles of 
the huntsmen. 

His next effi)rt was to raise a body of cavalry. 
Hitherto, little attention had been paid to this 
kind of force. In fact. Congress had done notb* 
ing, and the several colonies had gone no fur- 
ther than to encourage volunteers in a few 
instances. This neglect appeared to him so 
glaring, that he could not refrain from repeated 
and earnest remonstrances. It should be con- 
sidered, however, that the Americans had never 
been accustomed to cavalry ; the nature of the 
colonial warfare, in the midst of forests and in 
a broken country, did not admit of its use;* and 
the opinion was still prevalent, that it could not 
be employed to advantage. To enlighten this 
ignorance, and correct these false impressions, he 
found was not within the power of argument, 
and he now determined to try the force of ex- 
ample. Without waiting the tardy process of 
bringing over the Committee of Safety to his 



CHARLES LEE. Itl3 

fiewfiy be resolved to appeal to the spirit aafl 
fatriotism of the young men of Virginia, and to 
oall on them to form themselves into volunteer 
companies of light dragoons, equipped for the 
public service. He published an address con- 
taining this proposal, and an explanation of his 
plan. The gentlemen volunteers, as they were 
called, were to receive no pay, but were to be 
furnished with rations for themselves and their 
horses. They were to be armed with <^ a short 
rifle carbine, a light pike eight feet in length, 
and a tomahawk." Such was the scheme in its 
nascent form ; but his command in Virginia was 
80 short, that he probably had not the satisfac- 
tion of seeing it matured to the extent he had 
fondly hoped.* 

Whilst the commander of the southern de- 



* There was a strange apathy on this subject m Con- 
gress. Richard Henry Lee, in a letter to General Lee, 
dated May 11th, says, «1 find some gentlemen expressing 
dissatisfaction at your having promised forage and rations 
to such cavalry as might be assembled in Virginia." Again, 
" As a committee of Congress has already reported against 
having Continental cavalry in North Carolina, I suppose the 
same opinion will prevail respecting Virginia ; but the meas- 
ure is so wise and necessary for the defence of our colo- 
ny, that I wish and hope a few squadrons may be formed 
on colonial expense." Congress ultimately allowed rations 
and forage for volunteer dragoons in Virginia, not exceed- 
ing ^ve hundred. 

VOL. VIII. 8 



114 AMR&ICAN BIOGBAPUT. 

partment was thus employed in rousing and con* 
centrating the military energies of Virginia, an 
event occurred which raised a loud clamor against 
bim in Maryland. In the early part of April, a 
small vessel was taken in the Chesapeake Bay, 
which had been despatched by Lord Dunmore to 
Mr. Eden, Governor of Maryland, who was then 
at Annapolis. On board this vessel was Mr. 
Alexander Ross, the bearer of papers, among 
which were letters from Lord George Germain to 
Governor Eden. These were brought to General 
Lee, and they appeared to him, and to the Com- 
mittee of Safety at Williamsburg, to be of a 
dangerous tendency, and to implicate Governor 
Eden in transactions hostile to the liberties of 
the country. In his opinion, and in that of the 
committee, the public interest required that Gov- 
ernor Eden should be taken into custody, and 
his papers seized, without a moment's delay. 
The letters were immediately transmitted to the 
Continental Congress, and at the same time he 
wrote to Mr. Samuel Parviance, chairman of 4he 
Committee of Safety at Baltimore, as follows. 

"I conjure you, as you value the liberties 
and rights of the community of which you are 
a member, not to lose a moment, and in my 
name, if my name is of consequence enough, 
to direct the commanding officer of your troops 
at Annapolis immediately to seize the person of 



CHARLES LEK. 115 

Governor Eden ; the sin and blame be on my 
head ; I will answer for all to the Congress. The 
justice and necessity of the measure will be best 
explained by the packet, transmitted to you by 
the Committee of Safety from this place." 

The Baltimore committee compUed with this 
request, and sent a small armed force by water 
to Annapolis with an order to seize the Governor. 

The Council of Safety at AnnapoUs, then the 
executive of the province, the Governor's powers 
being practically suspended, took umbrage at 
this proceeding, and interfered to prevent the 
execution of the order, not so much, it would 
seem, because they disapproved the measure, as 
because they conceived their authority to have 
been slighted by an application, without their 
knowledge, to a local committee. They passed 
resolutions reprehending with severity the Bal- 
timore committee, and thereby casting censure 
upon General Lee, as the iGrst mover. He wrote 
a letter to the council, explaining and defend- 
ingi^the course he had taken, on the ground of 
the urgency of the case and of his not being 
aware that there were any troops at Annapolis. 
He claimed merit for performing what he be- 
lieved to be a most important public service, 
and concluded by saying, '^If the council think 
I harbor a wish to extend the military author- 
ity, or of trespassing on the civil, they do me 



116 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

most cruel injustice. Although I was bred in 
the army, I thank God that the spirit of the cit- 
izen has been always predominant; and I sol- 
emnly declare, that, if I thought it possible that 
I should ever be intoxicated by military com- 
mand, I would now, whilst I retain my senses, 
b^ leave to divest myself of my present ofBce, 
and serve as a volunteer in the glorious cause 
m which I have embarked my person, fortune, 
and reputation." 

The Continental Congress showed in what 
light they viewed his conduct by passing a reso- 
lution, as soon as they received the intercepted 
letters, calling on the Maryland Council of Safety 
to seize Governor Eden. The council contented 
themselves, however, with exacting a promise 
from the Gt)vernor, that he would remain quietly 
at Annapolis till the Convention of the provincial 
representatives should be assembled. 

In fact, it can hardly be doubted that General 
Lee had been in some degree influenced by a 
suspicion of the spirit and firmness of the Mary- 
land council. The conciliating manners and 
private character of Governor Eden had drawn 
around him many personal .friends, even among 
those who were foremost in abetting the revolu- 
tionary movements. The influence he had thus 
acquired was visible in recent transactions. The 
Convention had three months before instructed 



CHARLES LEE. 117 

their delegates in Congress to oppose any prop- 
osition for independence. The majority of the 
leaders in Marylafid, strenuous for their rights, 
and arming for war, were still talking of concil- 
iation, while the people throughout the land were 
crying out that the Rubicon was passed. 

One of the intercepted letters from Lord 
George Germain to Governor Eden revealed a 
secret of the greatest moment. It stated that 
^' an armament, consisting of seven regiments, 
with a fleet of frigates and small ships, was in 
readiness to proceed to the southern colonies." 
Its first destination was to North Carolina, whence 
it was to operate against Virginia or South Car- 
olina, as circumstances might render most ad- 
visable. This intelligence was extremely op- 
portune, since it not only unfolded the enemy's 
plan, but it allowed time for preparation. North 
Carolina had been assigned as the first point of 
attack, in consequence of the effective coopera- 
tion expected from the loyalists in that province, 
who had embodied and armed themselves the 
year before, and raised the standard of defiance. 
Their recent defeat and discomfiture, however, 
in the battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, had left 
no room for this hope ; and it was General 
Lee's opinion, that the theatre of action would 
be the Chesapeake, as obviously affording the 
most tempting inducements to the enemy. 



118 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

At all events, it behoved the Virginians to 
be prepared for such. a result; and General Lee, 
with his accustomed energy and zeal, devoted 
himself to this object. By his advice, the Com- 
mittee of Safety resolved to remove all the in- 
habitants, with their cattle and valuable effects, 
from the two counties, Norfolk and Princess 
Anne, nearest to Lord Dummore's station, and 
place them beyond his reach and 'influence, in 
the interior of the province. It was found im- 
possible, with all the guards that could be estab- 
lished, to prevent his holding intercourse with 
persons in these counties, and receiving supplies 
from them. 

General Lee passed several days at Suffolk 
and Portsmouth, in the neighborhood of Dun- 
more's fleet and camp, where he could obtain 
the best information, and adapt his measures in 
the most effectual manner to attain the end pro- 
posed. The order for a general removal oper- 
ated as a heavy hardship upon many persons, 
against whom there was no charge of suspicious 
practices or sinister designs, and it was after- 
wards so far modified as to extend only to the 
notoriously disaffected and incorrigible. In a 
few instances, the houses of individuals, who were 
known to have rendered assistance to the ene- 
my, were burned, and their property was seized 
for public use. 



CHARLES LEE. 119 

Whilst General Lee was thus engaged in pro- 
viding for the defence of Virginia, he received 
information from the government of North Caro- 
lina, that a fleet with about three thousand men, 
under Lord Cornwallis, had arrived in Cape Fear 
River, and a pressing request that he would 
hasten forward and take the command in that 
quarter. General Clinton, with the detachment 
from Boston, had likewise arrived there, after 
having made a visit to Lord Dunmore on his 
way. Whatever might be the ultimate move- 
ments of the enemy, he could not hesitate to 
regard North CaroUna as his present post of duty. 
As soon as he could make the proper arrange- 
ments, therefore, he proceeded to that province, 
leaving General Andrew Lewis at the head of 
military affairs in Virginia. 

Just before his departure, he wrote the fol- 
lowing letter to Patrick Henry, who was two 
months afterwards elected the first Governor of 
the commonwealth under the new form of gov- 
ernment. It is interesting as an exposition of 
the sentiments of General Lee, and as affording 
hints of those of Patrick Henry, on the weighty 
subject of independence. 

" WiUiamsburg, May 7th, 1776. 

"Dear Sir, 

"If I had not the highest opinion 

of your character and liberal way of thinking, 



120 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

I should not venture to address myself to you; 
and, if I were not equally persuaded of the 
great weight and influence, which the transcend- 
ent abilities you possess must naturally confer, 
I should not give myself the trouble of writing, 
nor you the trouble of reading, this long letter. 
Since our conversation yesterday, my thoughts 
have been solely employed on the great ques- 
tion, whether independence ought or ought not 
to be immediately declared. Having weighed 
the argument on both sides, I am clearly of 
the opinion, that we must, as we value the lib- 
erties of America, or even her existence, without 
a moment's delay declare for independence. If 
my reasons appear weak, you will excuse them 
for the disinterestedness of the author, as I may 
venture to afiirm, that no man on this continent 
will sacrifice more than myself by the separation. 
But if I have the good fortune to offer any argu- 
ments, which have escaped your understanding, 
and they should make the desired impression, I 
shall think I have rendered the greatest service 
to th6 community. 

"The objection you made yesterday, if I un- 
derstood you rightly, to an immediate declara- 
tion, was by many degrees the most specious, in- 
deed, it is the only tolerable one, that I have 
yet heard. You say, and with great justice, that 
we ought previously to have felt the pulse of 



CHARLES LEB.- ISl 

France and Spain. I more than believe, I am 
almost confident, that it has been done ; at least, 
I can assert, upon recollection, that some of the 
Committee of Secrecy have assured me that the 
sentiments of both these courts, or their agents, 
had been sounded, and were found to be as fa- 
vorable as could be wished. But, admitting that 
we are utter strangers to their sentiments on 
the subject, and that we run some risk of this 
declaration being coldly received by these 
powers, such is our situation, that the risk must 
be ventured. 

"On one side, there are the most probable 
chances of our success, founded on the certain 
advantages which must manifest themselves to 
French understandings by a treaty of alliance 
with America. The strength and weakness, the 
opulence and poverty, of every state are esti- 
mated in the scale of comparison . with her im- 
mediate rival. The superior commerce and ma- 
rine force of England were evidently established 
on the monopoly of her American trade. The 
inferiority of France, in these two capital points, 
consequently had its source in the same origin. 
Any deduction from this monopoly must bring 
clown her rival in proportion to this deduction. 

" The French are, and always have been, sen- 
sible of these great truths. Your idea, that they 
may be diverted from a line of policy> which as- 



122 AMERIOAN BIOGRAPHT. 

sures them such immense and permanent advan- 
tageS; by an offer of partition from Great Britain, 
appears to me, if you will excuse the phrase, an 
absolute chimera. They must be wretched poli- 
ticians, indeed, if they would prefer the uncertain 
acquisition, and the precarious, expensive posses- 
sion, of one or two provinces, to the greater part 
of the commerce of the whole. Besides, were 
not the advantages from the latter so manifesdy 
greater than those that would accrue from the 
imagined partition scheme, it is notorious that 
acquisition of territory, or even colonial posses- 
sions, which require either men or money to re- 
tain them, are entirely repugnant to the spirit 
and principles of the present French court. It 
is so repugnant, indeed, that it is most certain 
they have lately entertained thoughts of aban- 
doning their West India islands. Le commerce 
et Veconomie are the cry, down from the King to 
the lowest minister. From these considerations, 
I am convinced that they will immediately and 
essentially assist us, if independence is declared. 
"But, allowing that there can be no certain- 
ty, but mere chances, in our favor, I do insist 
upon it that these chances render it our duty to 
adopt the measure, as, by procrastination, our 
ruin is inevitable. Should it now be determined 
to wait the result of a previous formal negotia- 
tion with France, a whole year must pass over 



CHARLES L^E. 123 

our heads before we can be acquainted with the 
result. In the mean time, we are to struggle 
through a campaign without arms, ammunition, 
or any one necessary of war. Disgrace and de- 
feat will infallibly ensue ; the soldiers and officers 
will become so disappointed, that they will aban- 
don their colors, and probably never be persuad- 
ed to make another effort. 

" But there is another consideration still more 
cogent. I can assure you that the spirit of the 
people cries out for this declaration ; the milita- 
ry, in particular, men and officers, are outrageous 
on the subject ; and a man of your excellent 
discernment need not be told how dangerous it 
would be, in our present circumstances, to dally 
with the spirit, or disappoint the expectations, of 
the bulk of the people. May not despair, an- 
archy, and finally submission, be the bitter fruits ? 
I am firmly persuaded that they will ; and, in 
this persuasion, I most devoutly pray that you 
may not merely recommend, but positively lay 
injunctions on your servants in Congress to em- 
brace a measure so necessary to our salvation. 
"Yours most sincerely, 

"Charles Lee." 

Eight days after the date of this letter, the 
Convention of Virginia instructed their delegates 



124 AMERIOAN BIOGRAPHY. 

in Congress, by a unanimous resolve, to propose 
to that body "to declare the united colonies 
free and independent states." The event proved 
that General Lee thoroughly understood the sense 
I of the people. His suggestion, that the French 
court had no wish to acquire territory on the 
American continent, was also correct. This is 
demonstrated by the subsequent treaty of alli- 
ance, ai)d by the public and secret correspond- 
ence of the French ministers during the whole 
period of the war. 

The Virginia Convention voted to raise imme- 
diately eleven hundred and fifty minute men for 
the assistance of North Carolina. General Lee 
ordered one of the Continental regiments on the 
same service. North Carolina had raised five 
regiments on the Continental establishment, which 
were commanded by General Moore, and were 
stationed in such a manner as to be ready to 
meet the enemy, if they should attempt to pen- 
etrate the country. General Lee arrived at 
Newbern on the 27th of May, and was wel- 
comed by an address from the inhabitants, in 
which they say, "Impressed with a lively sense 
of your generous and manly exertions in defence 
of American rights and liberties, we are happy 
in having an opportunity of paying our grateful 
tribute of thanks, and offering our most cordial 



CHARLES LEE. i2& 

congratulations on your arrival among us." He 
was everywhere greeted with hearty salutations 
and with tokens of respect and confidence. 

He received intelligence from General Moore 
that Sir Peter Parker, General Clinton, and Lord 
Cornwallis, were in Cape Fear River, with sixty 
or seventy topsail vessels, of which seven were 
ships of war, and that about three thousand 
men were landed near Fort Johnson. As yet, 
the enemy's intentions could only be conjectured. 
That they would operate in North Carolina, was 
not believed ; but it was problematical whether 
they would turn their course to Virginia or South 
Carolina. In this state of suspense, it was ne- 
cessary to be prepared to act at both points. 
All doubt was soon removed ; for the fleet sailed 
out of the river on the 1st of June, and, three 
days afterwards, appeared off* the harbor of 
Charleston. General Lee followed, and reached 
the city on the same day. 



196 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Takes Command of the Troops in South Caro- 
lina. — Preparations for Defence. — Affair at 
Fort Moultrie. — British retire from Caroli- 
na. — General Lee marches to Georgia. — 
Plans an Expedition against East Florida. — 
Recalled to the North by Congress. — Joins the 
main Army at Haerlem Heights. — Marches 
to White Plains. — Washington crosses tfie Hud- 
son, and Lee left in Command of the East- 
ern Troops at White Plains. 

This invasion of the enemy had been antici- 
pated by the South Carolinians, in consequence 
of Lord George Germain's intercepted letter, and 
they had prepared to meet it. The legislature 
had voted an army of four thousand men, and 
between two and three thousand were already 
raised. They were extremely active in throwing 
up fortifications around the city, and on the 
islands adjacent to the harbor, particularly on 
Sullivan's Island, situate within the bar, and 
most exposed to the enemy's shipping, where 
much progress had been made in a strong work 
of defence constructed of palmetto logs. The 
same zeal that was Conspicuous in other parts of 



CHARLES L£E, 1S7 

the continent animated all classes of the inhab- 
itants. 

General Lee's arrival diffused universal satis- 
faction. His fame had gone before him, and 
everything was hoped from his talents, his ar- 
dor, and military knowledge. ^<His presence," 
says Moultrie, << gave us great spirits ; he taught 
us to think lightly of the enemy, and gave a 
spur to all our actions." But he found himself 
in an unexpected dilemma. Not a single offi- 
cer or soldier was on the Continental establish- 
ment, although Congress had, six months before, 
authorized three battalions to be raised in South 
Carolina, and had sent General Armstrong to 
take the command, who had been a month in 
Charleston.* 

The reason assigned by the Carolinians was, 
that they were not satisfied with the military 
regulations of Congress, and preferred their own 
system. In this state of things, no Continental 
officer, not even General Lee, could command 
the troops of South Carolina. To waver on 
such a point, whilst the enemy was at the door, 
seemed the height of folly ; and Mr. John Rut- 
ledge, President of South Carolina under the 
new constitution then recently adopted, wisely 
settled the question by issuing an order, which 

* General AmiBtioiig's Letter to Lee, May 8th, 1776. 



128 AMERICAN BIOGJIAPHT. . 

placed all the provincial troopfi under the com 
mand of General Lee ; an act which met the 
entire approbation of the soldiers and the pub- 
lic.^ Tiie army was jcnned by a detachment 
from North Carolina, and a regiment from Vir- 
ginia, both of which had been ordered forward 
by General Lee, while on his inarch from the 
'north. 

From that time he was devoted, day and night, 
to the arduous task of preparation. The chief 
care was bestowed upon the fort at Sullivan's 
Island, which presented a fair mark to the 
enemy's fleet, and which it was presumed would 
be the first object of assault. The island was 
separated from the main by shoal water nearly a 
mile in width, and much labor was expended in 
the construction of a bridge, to serve for a re- 
treat in case of disasters ; but it could not be 
finished in season. 

Colonel Moultrie, of South Carolina, com- 
manded in the fort, and Colonel Thompson was 
stationed with a body of riflemen three miles 
distant, at the eastern extremity of the island, 
with the view of guarding that part against the 
descent of the British troops under General 
Clinton. Detachments were likewise posted by 
General Lee at Haddrell's Point, and other 

* Moultrie^s Memoirs, Vol. L p. 151. 



CHARLES LEE. 1S9 

phces along the main opposite to Sallivan's 
Island ; but these were too remote to afford any 
direct assistance to the defenders of the fort. 
For several days the enemy's fleet remained on 
the outside of the bar, and General Clinton land- 
ed his men on Long Island, separated from Sulli- 
van's Island at the east by a narrow passage, 
which was supposed to be fordable at low tide. 
Such was the position of the two parties on 
the 28th of June, when, early in the morning, 
two men-of-war, the Bristol and the Evperimenty 
carrying fifty guns each, six frigates, and a 
bomb-vessel, having passed the bar at full tide 
the evening before, sailed boldly up within can- 
non-shot of the fort, cast anchor, and commenced 
a furious cannonade. It was returned with 
equal spirit and unerring effect by Moultrie and 
his soldiers, affording an extraordinary instance of 
one of the hottest actions on record fought by 
men totally inexperienced, with all the skill, pre- 
cision, and coolness of consummate veterans. 
The conflict continued for ten hours, till eight 
o'clock at night, without intermission, except 
for a brief space when the powder in the fort 
was nearly exhausted. As soon as a seasonable 
supply arrived, the fire was renewed. General 
Lee watched the action with intense interest at 
Haddrell's Point. He once passed over to the 
fort in a boat, stayed a short time,, pointed two 
VOL. viii. 9 



130 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

or three of the guns, and then said to the com- 
mander, "Colonel, I see you are doing very 
well here ; you have no occasion for me ; I will 
go up to town again ; " and then returned in his 
boat, exposed to the enemy's fire.^ He was too 
generous to rob the -brave colonel of the glory 
of the day by remaining in the fort. 

The victory was complete, and the more hon- 
orable as obtained over an enemy who had 
fought with the most determined resolution and 
bravery. At dusk Sir Peter Parker slipped his 
cables, and floated away with the tide beyond the 
reach of the guns at the fort. On board the 
Bristoly forty men were killed and seventy-one 
wounded ; and the Eocperiment lost twenty-three 
killed and fifty-six wounded. The other vessels 
suffered less. The American loss was twelve 
killed and twenty-four wounded. Three of the 
frigates ran aground in attempting to enfilade the 
fort on the western side. One of them was 
scuttled and burned. General Clinton, finding 
the water in the channel too deep to be forded, 
could not land on the island, and of course his 
troops took no part in the action. Neither 
fortune nor courage was propitious to the assail- 
ants. In honor of the commander, the fort was 
thenceforth called Fort Moultrie. 

• Moultrie's Memoirs, Vol. IL p. 176. 



CHARLES LEE. 131 

This repulse put an end to the scheme of a 
southern invasion, of the success of which the 
ministry had formed sanguine expectations. The 
fleet speedily sailed, with all the troops on board, 
to join the grand army under General Howe at 
New York. The blow was fatal to Lord Dun- 
more, who, destitute of the support which a 
southern victory would have given him, was soon 
compelled to cease from his depredations in the 
Chesapeake, and to withdraw likewise to Sir 
William Howe's army. 

For several days it was doubtful whether the 
retreating enemy would not turn upon Virginia, 
and General Lee held his troops in readiness to 
march in that direction ; but, as soon as it was 
ascertained that the fleet had passed the Chesa- 
peake without entering, he formed the plan of 
an expedition to East Florida. The frontiers of 
Georgia had been infested by marauding parties 
from that province, and a post was established on 
St. Mary's River, under a British officer, which 
became the rendezvous of refugees from the 
southern provinces, vagrant negroes, and hostile 
Indians, who were furnished with arms and in- 
cited to plunder the inhabitants. 

To break up and disperse this nest of ma- 
rauders, which daily increased in numbers, and to 
strike terror into the Florida Indians by a vigor- 
ous onset upon that province, were thought to 



132 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

be objects of special importance. The enemy 
held possession of St. Augustine, a fortress too 
formidable to be attempted without heavy artil- 
lery, which the Americans did not possess ; but 
every other part of Florida was open to their 
incursions. 

The plan was cordially approved by the promi- 
nent patriots of Georgia, and General Lee hast- 
ened to Savannah with the intention of carrying 
it into execution. He was followed by General 
Howe, a Continental officer of North Carolina, 
and by Colonel Moultrie, with detachments of 
North and South Carolina troops. There was 
also a Continental battalion in Georgia, which had 
been raised early in the year, and at the head of 
which was Colonel Mcintosh. The command of 
the proposed Florida expedition was offered to 
Colonel Moultrie, and he accepted it on condition 
that he should be furnished with eight hundred 
men and the requisite supplies. The men were 
at hand, but there was a deficiency of almost 
everything else. The season in that hot climate 
was unfavorable ; yet such exertions were made . 
as to afford a fair prospect of success. 

In the midst of these preparations, however, 
about the 1st of September, after General Lee 
had been a month in Savannah, he received an 
order from Congress requiring him to repair im- 
mediately to Philadelphia. The expedition was 



CHARLES LEE. 133 

then abandoned, the Carolina troops were re- 
called, and, with as little delay as possible, he 
pursued his journey to the north. 

He had commanded in the southern departr 
ment six months, and had been perpetually en- 
gaged in scenes of the utmost activity, which 
called for a full measure of military skill, ability, 
discretion, judgment, and knowledge of mankind. 
On all occasions he had acquitted himself honor- 
ably, with disinterestedness, and an unwavering 
devotion to the cause of the country. If his 
zeal and ardent temperament sometimes gave 
him the air of assumption, and impelled him 
beyond the exact limits of his delegated powers, 
it was soon discovered that his aims were for 
the public good, and that he never shrank from 

, the responsibility of any of his acts. 

Whilst he was at Savannah, he wrote a letter 
"to the Governor at St. Francois," describing 
the state of affairs in America, with arguments 
to prove the advantages that France would gain 
by an alliance in the war, or at least by fur- 

^ Dishing arms and other military supplies, so as to 
secure the success of the Americans. The let^ 
ter was ably written, and was probably designed 
for the French court, to whom he might naturally 
suppose it would be forwarded by the Governor. 
By the resignation of General Ward, he was 



134 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

now the second in command of the American 
army, standing next in rank to Washington. 
When he reported himself to Congress, he was 
directed to proceed to the camp at Haerlem 
Heights, where the main army was then posted, 
daily expecting an attack from Sir William 
Howe, who had a month before taken possession 
of New York. He arrived on the 14th of Octo- 
ber, and took command of the right wing of the 
army. 

The works on Haerlem Heights were strong 
and well manned, and it wIeis hoped the attack 
would be made at that place. The British gen- 
eral chose not to hazard the attempt. Bunker's 
Hill was too fresh in his recollection. It was 
nis policy to draw General Washington away 
from his stronghold further into the country, 
where he might meet him to greater advantage, 
or to enclose him between the Hudson and Long 
Island Sound by falling on his rear, and thus 
cutting off his communication with the interior. 
He had already begun to manceuvre for these 
objects, and had landed a large division of his 
troops on Frog's Neck, a peninsula jutting into 
the Sound about nine miles eastward from the 
American camp. At this moment General Lee 
arrived. 

The post at Haerlem was so strong, including 



CHARLES LEE. 136 

Fort Washington, and the desire of ongress 
to maintain such a force there as to obstruct 
the passage of the Hudson had been so emphat- 
ically expressed, that a majority of the officers 
had decided a few days before that the army 
ought to remain in its present position, and act 
against the enemy as circumstances should die* 
tate. A council was held on the 12th of Oc- 
tober, however, two days before the arrival of 
General Lee, at which this decision was re- 
versed, and it was agreed that the principal part 
of the army should march into the country, so 
as to keep in advance of the British columns, 
and that eight thousand men only should remain 
for the defence of the Heights. 

In the mean time, a different face was put 
upon affairs by the movements of the enemy ; 
General Howe's numbers at Frog's Neck con- 
tinued to increase, and it was obvious that he 
intended to bring all his disposable strength to 
bear upon the American rear. Another council 
was called on the 16th, at which General Lee 
was present; and it was decided, with one dis- 
senting voice only, that the whole army, except 
two thousand men left to garrison Fort Wash- 
ington, should march across Kingsbridge, and so 
far into the country as, at all events, to out- 
flank the enemy. General Lee was in favor 



136 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of this resolution, as indeed were all the offi- 
cers but one.* 

In this matter, however, some writers have 
claimed for him more credit than the facts would 
seem to justify. It has been said, that the de- 
cision was obtained mainly, if not wholly, by his 
eloquent and persuasive arguments, strengthened 
by the unbounded confidence which the officers 
of the council reposed in his military knowledge 
and talents; and that by his agency, thus em- 
ployed, the army was rescued from a most per- 
ilous situation. Whatever grounds there may 
have been for the previous opinions of the offi- 
cers, it would seem obvious, that, at the time of 
General Lee's arrival in camp, when Sir William 
Howe was in vigorous motion, with the larger 

* This officer was General Gewge Clinton. Under the 
circumstances, his dissent was singular. He assigned his 
reasons, however, in writing. He was extremely anxious 
to prevent the enemy from ascending the Hudson, and to 
protect the country. He said the Americans were numer- 
ically as strong as the British, that the latter must be met 
somewhere, and that he believed the position and strong 
works of Haerlem afl^rded a better place for defence than 
any other. 

Colonel Harrison, the secretary of General Washington, 
in writing to the President of Congrress the day after the 
meeting of the council, and informing him of the resolution 
to march the army from Haerlem, says, " General Lee has 
strongly urged the absolute necessity of the measure " 



CHARLE8 LEE. 137 

part of his army, to gain the rear of the Ameri- 
cans, and cut off their communication with the 
country, the only course left for them was to 
retreat from their position. That General Lee 
should ui^e such a measure, was consistent with 
his character, and needs not be questioned; but 
that it required much weight of argument to 
convince the Commander-in-chief, and the other 
officers, of its necessity, is not credible. 

The attempt to retain Fort Washington, after 
tlie army marched from Haerlem Heights, has 
generally been regarded as the most palpable 
blunder, and its capture the most serious loss, 
that occurred during the war. The proceedings 
of the council on this subject have not been pre- 
served ; but it has always been understood, and 
historians have not disputed the fact, that Gren- 
eral Lee strenuously opposed the measure of 
leaving a garrison at that post. In adopting it, 
General Washington was influenced by two mo- 
tives. The first and principal one was, that he 
had received a resolution of Congress, two or 
three days before, desiring him "by every art, 
and at whatever expense, to obstruct effectually 
the navigation of the North River between Fort 
Washington and Mount Constitution." This 
could not be done without a strong garrison. 
Secondly, the troops could at any time be with- 
drawn across the river, without hazard, by Gen- 



138 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

end Greene, who was stationed on the opposite 
side, at Fort Lee, or Mount Constitution. 

Moreover, during the movement of the main 
array, the possession of this post, and of the other 
works on the Heights, was extremely . important 
in another point of view. It interrupted effectu- 
ally the direct channel of communication be- 
tween the city of New York and the country, and 
held at bay about five thousand British troops 
between the Heights and the city, under Lord 
Percy, who, if the Heights had been deserted 
and the way left open, would have pressed heav- 
ily upon the rear of the Americans during a 
march already rendered perilous by the near 
vicinity of the main body of General Howe's 
army on their right flank. 

The retention of Fort Washington at that 
time, therefore, was not so unadvised a measure 
as might at first appear. But when, several 
days afterwards, whilst the American army was 
at White Plains, a British frigate and two trans- 
ports passed up the Hudson, notwithstanding the 
opposition presented by the chevaux-de-frise and 
the two forts, thereby proving that the naviga- 
tion of the river could not be obstructed, it 
would seem that the garrison ought to have been 
immediately withdrawn, and the works on the 
Heights abandoned. This was the opinion of 
General Washington, which he strongly expressed 



CHARLES LEK. 139 

in a letter to General Greene ; but the hopes of 
the latter were too sanguine, and hence the loss 
of the garrison.* 

When the army marched from Haerlem Heights, 
the division under General Lee was stationed 
near Kingsbridge, in order to guard and protect 
the rear; a position the most exposed to the 
enemy, and demanding the perpetual vigilance 
and caution of the commander. Nor was he 
contented with this duty only; he harassed the 
enemy's outposts. Three several detachments 
from his division skirmished with parties not in- 
ferior in force, and with such success as to prove, 
in each instance, both the courage of the men 
and the good judgment with which these enter- 
prises were planned. The movements of the 
army were extremely embarrassed by the de^ 
ficiency of wagons and horses for transporting 
the baggage and artillery, whilst it was constantly 
open on its right wing to the assaults of the 
British columns, which were sometimes in sight. 
The march occupied three or four days. Gen- 
eral Lee continued in the rear, affording an ef- 
fectual protection, and at length brought up hia 
division, and joined the main army at White 
Plains. 

Washington here expected a general action, 

• An explanation of the particular may be seen in 
Sparks's Waskingtonj VoL VL p. 328; Vol. IX. p. lOa 



140 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

and was prepared to meet it ; but, after looking 
him in the face for several days, Sir William 
Howe came to the conclusion, that the Americans 
were too strongly posted to allow him a fair 
prospect of success, and quietly drew off his 
troops towards Kingsbridge. As soon as his re- 
treat was ascertained not to be a feint, no one 
could doubt his intention to transfer his opera- 
tions to New Jersey, with the ultimate object of 
reaching Philadelphia. Washington resolved to 
cross the Hudson immediately, with all the troops 
belonging to the south of that river, and throw 
himself in the enemy's front, leaving General 
Lee with the eastern troops on the ground then 
occupied. 

A detachment of three thousand men, under 
General Heath, was likewise ordered to Peekskill, 
for the defence of the passes in the Highlands. 
The number of troops left with General Lee was 
about seven thousand five hundred, but more 
than four thousand of these were militia, whose 
term of enlistment would expire very shortly. 
By his instructions, he was to cross the Hud- 
son without delay, whenever it should be known 
that the British designed New Jersey to be the 
theatre of operations. 



CHARLES LEE. 141 



CHAPTER X. 



Ordered to cross the Hudson and join the Army 
under Washington. — His Dispute with General 
Heath. — Marches into New Jersey. — Dilatory 
in obeying Orders. — Captured by the Enemy 
at BasJcingridge. — Held as a Deserter^ and 
closely confined. — Washington threatens ile- 
taliation. — Allowed the Privilege of Parole. 
— Exchanged. — Resumes his Command in the 
Army at Valley Forge. 

The fell of Fort Washington and Fort Lee 
opened the way for the anticipated schemes of 
Sir William Howe. He advanced into New 
Jersey. Washington retreated before him with 
an army daily dwindling away, by the expiration 
of the times for which the men had engaged to 
serve, till the number was reduced to less than 
three thousand. This critical situation required 
his whole disposable force to be united under 
his immediate command. He wrote to General 
Lee from' Hackinsack, Newark, Brunswick, and 
Trenton, at first requesting him, and then urging 
and ordering him, to come forward with his 
troops as quickly as possible by such route as 
he might select. 

Greneral Lee was not idle at his post. He 



143 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

laid a plan for cutting off a detachment of the 
British, stationed near Mamaronec, under Colonel 
Rogers, celebrated for his exploits in the border 
conflicts of the last war. It was partly executed, 
but ultimately failed, in consequence of the enemy 
having left the ground before the arrival of the 
Americans. He was also active in endeavoring 
to prevail on the New England militia to remain a 
short time longer, using such arguments as might 
touch their patriotism and kindle their ardor. 
Very few were moved by his eloquence, or by 
the perils of their country ; they nearly all went 
home. 

As troops could overtake General Washington 
from the Highlands more expeditiously than from 
White Plains, Lee requested General Heath to 
send forward two thousand men, whom he prom- 
ised to replace by an equal number from his own 
division. Heath declined, alleging the positive 
tenor of his instructions from the Commander-in- 
chief. This refusal bred an unpleasant alterca- 
tion between the two Generals ; Lee insisting, 
that, being superior in rank. Heath was bound 
to obey his orders ; and Heath maintaining, that 
he held a separate command. Lee's sense of the 
matter was conveyed, without much show of 
courtesy, in two or three caustic letters to Heath, 
in one of which he says, with characteristic im- 
petuosity, "The Commander-in-chief is now 



CHARLES LEE. 143 

separated from us. I, of course, command on 
this side of the water ; and, for the future, I 
must and will be obeyed." * These strong 
words were uttered without effect; Heath re- 
mained firm, and his decision was approved by 
Washington, who said it was not his intention to 
draw any of the troops from the Highlands. 

Whatever motives may have caused General 
Lee's delay in the first instance, it is difficult to 
account for his tardiness afterwards. He lingered 
two or three weeks on the east side of the Hud- 
son, and, after crossing the river with somewhat 
less than three thousand men, the militia having 
returned home, he proceeded very slowly, al- 
though continually pressed by messages from 
Washington to hasten his march. He advanced 
by way of Morristown to Baskingridge, where, on 
the 13th of December, ten days after he crossed* 
the Hudson, he was captured by the enemy. 
The particulars of that event have been related 
by General Wilkinson, who was an eye-witness. 

For reasons, which have not been explained, 
Lee took up his quarters for the night, with a 
small guard, at a house about three miles from 
the encampment of the army. A loyalist belong- 
ing to that neighborhood happened to pass the 

• Ma Letter, dated November 26th. See also Hea;di's 
Jllmioirt,pp.88-9a 



144 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

house in the evening, and ascertained that the 
General was there. He communicated the in- 
telligence to Colonel Harcourt, afterwards Earl 
Harcourt, a spirited British officer, at that time 
on a tour of observation in the country with a 
party of dragoons. General Lee had taken his 
breakfast the next morning, and just finished a 
letter to General Gates, who was then approach- 
ing from the north, with a body of troops, to join 
Washington. At that moment, says Wilkinson, 
" I was looking out of an end window, down 
a lane about one hundred yards in length, which 
led to the house from the main road, when I dis- 
covered a party of British dragoons turning a 
corner of the avenue at a full charge. Startled 
at this unexpected spectacle, I exclaimed, * Here, 
Sir, are the British cavalry ! ' ' Where ? ' replied 
the General, who had signed his letter at the 
instant. < Around the house,' for they had 
opened files, and encompassed the building. 
General Lee appeared alarmed, yet collected, and 
his second observation marked his self-posses- 
sion. ' Where is the guard ? Why don't they 
fire?' And, after a moment's pause, he turned to 
me, and said, ' Do, Sir, see what has become of 
the guard.' I passed into a room at the opposite 
end of the house, where I had seen the guard in 
the morning. Here I discovered their arms, but 
the men were absent I stepped out of tbe 



CHARLES LEE. lIS 

door, and perceived the dragoons chasing them 
in diflerent directions." * 

The scene was soon closed. General Lee waii 
mounted on a horse that dtood at the door, with* 
out a hat, clad in a blanket-coat and slippers, 
ftnd borne off in triumph to the British army at 
Brunswick. 

In reviewing his conduct, from the time he was 
intrusted with a separate command at White 
Plains, it must be acknowledged that appearances 
are against him. As a military man, scrupulous 
in exacting obedience from others, it could not 
but excite suspicion that he should manifest so 
strange a backwardness in obeying the orders 
of his superior, especially as he possessed a 
perfect knowledge of the weak condition imd 
extreme peril of the fugitive little army, which he 
was required to support. Washington, in one of 
his letters, expressed surprise that he had not 
heard from him for more than a week, although, 
he adds, ^^ I have despatched daily expresses 
desiring to know when I might look for him." 
And Congress, nearly at the same time, instructed 
a committee " to send an express to General Lee, 
to know where, and in what situation, he and the 
army with him are." 

tt is moreover evident, that he had designs of 

♦ Wilkinson's Mmmrs, VoL L p. 10& 
VOL. VIII. 10 



146 AMERICAN BIOGBAPHT. 

his own, which were not consistent with a strict 
obedience of orders. It was his purpose to hang 
on the enemy's rear, and seize the first opportu- 
nity to strike a blow. On the 9th of December, 
he wrote from Chatham to General Heath, '^ I am 
in hopes here to reconquer the Jerseys; they 
were really in the hands of the enemy before my 
arrival." And, what must screen him from all 
suspicion of concealing his designs even from the 
Commander-in-chief, he conveyed the same idea 
in a letter to him the day before. Again, on the 
11th of December, he wrote, "As General Lee 
thinks he can without great risk cross the Bruns- 
wick post-road, and, by a forced night's march, 
make his way to the ferry below Burlington, 
boats should be sent up from Philadelphia to re- 
ceive him ; but this scheme he only proposes, if 
the head of the enemy's column actually pass the 
river." This was his last communication to 
Washington before he was taken prisoner, and 
it is remarkable as showing no disposition to 
comply with the orders he had received. 

It may be said, and perhaps with justice, that 
these aberrations do not prove any ill design on 
his part, although they expose him to the charge 
of neglect of duty as an officer. He might be- 
lieve, and probably did believe, that he could ren- 
der the most effectual service by striking the en- 
emy's rear, thereby retarding, if not entirely arrest- 



CHABLES LEJB. 147 

ing, the progress of the British army towards the 
Delaware. That he had ulterior views can only 
be matter of conjecture, founded on his ardent 
temperament and aspiring ambition, which he 
never took pains to c^pceal. Hitherto he had 
discovered no symptoms of hostility to Wash- 
ington, for the free remarks he had made con- 
cerning recent operations, and want of decision 
in the head, could scarcely be regarded as such. 
Any officer might innocently indulge himself in 
a similar latitude of opinion and speech. Whilst 
he was absent at the south, an intimate corre- 
spondence was kept up between them, as well of 
a private as of an official character ; nor is there 
any evidence, that, after his return, he did not 
possess the entire confidence of the Commander- 
in-chief. 

It is true, nevertheless, that the letter to Gen- 
eral Gates, mentioned above, breathes a spirit not 
perfectly accordant with feelings of friendship or 
disinterested motives. He writes, alluding to 
Washington, ^^He has thrown me into a situa- 
tion, where I have my choice of difficulties. If 
I stay in this province, I risk myself and army ; 
and if I do not stay, the province is lost forever. 
I have neither guides, cavalry, medicines, money, 
shoes, nor stockings. I must act with the great- 
est circumspection. Tories are in my front, 
rear, and on my flanks ; the mass of the people 



146 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

IS strangely contaminated. In short, unless some- 
thing, which I do not expect, turns up, we are 
lo;t. Our counsels have been weak to the last 
degree."* Now, in reality, there was no choice 
of difficulties. He was ordered to join the main 
army, which he knew had crossed the Delaware ; 
and, by a quick march from the position he then 
held, he might in a single day have reached the 
river at a suitable crossing-place, without the 
riightest risk of being obstructed by the enemy, 
who were many miles below. He had no other 
tasl^ before him, than that of performing this 
march. As to the safety of the province, he 
was not required to protect it, nor was he an- 
swerable for consequences. 

The capture of Greneral Lee, at so critical a 
moment in public affairs, was deeply deplored 
by the army and by the whole country. Aside 
from the mortification of losing the second officer 
of the army in such a manner, the zeal with 
which he had embraced and sustained the Amer- 
ican cause had won the affections of the people ; 
and his military reputation, especially his recent 
successes at the south, had confirmed their good 
opinion, and raised extravagant expectations of 
his future services. 



^ The whole letter is printed in Wilkinson's Manoin 

Vol I. y. loa 



CHARLES LJBE. 149 

The circumstances attending his capture, how- 
ever, and the negligence with which he seemed 
to expose himself to the enemy, produced a re- 

\ action in some minds, and excited unfavorable 
suspicions. How was it possible, it was asked, 
for a man of his experience and ability to place 
himself in a situation, where he could be seized 
by a handful of British dragoons, without even 
a show of resistance, unless he had previously 
resolved to become a voluntary captive, and had 
secretly concerted measures to this end with the 
enemy ? In the vexation of a bitter disappoint* 
ment, this suspicion, perhaps, was natural; but 
it was utterly unfounded. All the testimony 
confirms, that, up to the time of his capture, he 

^was faithfully and assiduously devoted to the 
cause he had espoused. 

Moreover, the treatment he at first received 
from the enemy afTords a convincing proof of 
his having fallen into their hands by no good 
will on either side. Even the privilege of a pris- 
oner of war was denied to him. Six days af^ 
he was brought to the British camp. Sir Wil- 
liam Howe wrote to the minister. Lord George 
Germain, as follows. " General Lee, being con- 
sidered in the light of a deserter, is kept a close 
prisoner; but I do not bring him to trial, as a 
doubt has arisen whether, by a public resign*- 
tion of his half-pay, prior to his entry into the 



ISO AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

rebel army, he is still amenable to the military 
law as a deserter; upon which point I wait for 
information; and if the decision should be for 
trial on this ground, I beg to have the judges' 
opinion to lay before the court. Deserters are 
excluded in my agreement with the enemy for 
exchange of prisoners.'' The minister replied, 
" As you have difficulties about bringing General 
Lee to trial in America, it is his Majesty's pleas- 
ure, that you send him to Great Britain by the 
first ship of war." The manner of his treatment 
was soon rumored abroad, and produced a strong 
sensation in the American army and people. 
General Washington partook of the common 
feeling, and felt it to be his duty to remon- 
strate and threaten retaliation. 

"I am directed by Congress," he says, in a 
letter to General Howe, "to propose an ex- 
change of five of the Hessian field-officers, taken 
at Trenton, for Major-General Lee; or, if this 
proposal should not be accepted, to demand his 
liberty upon parole, within certain bounds, as 
has ever been granted to your officers in our 
custody. I am informed, from good authority, 
that your reason for keeping him hitherto in 
stricter confinement than usual is, that you do 
not look upon him in the light of a common 
prisoner of war, but as a deserter from the Brit- 
ish service, as his resignation was never accept- 



CHABLES LEE. 151 

ed, and that you intend to try him as such by 
a court-martial. I will not undertake to deter- 
mine how far this doctrine may be justifiable 
among yourselves; but I must give you warn- 
ing, that Major-General Lee is looked upon as 
an officer belonging to, and under the protec- 
tion of, the United Independent States of Amer- 
ica, and that any violence you may commit on 
his life or liberty will be severely retaliated upon 
the lives or liberties of the British officers, or 
those of their foreign allies, at present in our 
hands." 

Sir William Howe's answer was brief, couched 
in general terms, and unsatisfactory, promising 
only that the proceedings against General Lee 
"should not be precipitated." These words 
implied, that proceedings of some sort were in- 
tended. Congress immediately ordered five Hes- 
sian field-officers, and Lieutenant-Colonel Camp- 
bell, then a prisoner in ^Boston, to be taken into 
close custody, avowing the determination to re- 
taliate on them the same punishment that should 
be infficted on General Lee. This order was 
executed ; the Hessian officers were closely con- 
fined ; and Colonel Campbell was thrown into 
a common jail at Concord, and treated in a 
manner reflecting no credit on the generous feel- 
ings of those who had him in charge, however 
it might evince their zeal for the honor and 



ISffi AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

safety of their unfortunate general in the hands 
of the enemy. 

Colonel Campbell was released from his harsh 
duress by the interference of Washington, who, 
ioi fact, did not approve the rigid construction 
whiqh had been put upon the order of Con-> 
gre^s, and who had no other aim than to retain 
the officers in custody, without the privilege of 
exchange, till the final decision of General Lee's 
case should be known. 

In this state of things, Sir William Howe 
wrote again to the minister in a somewhat al- 
tered tone. "Washington declines to exchange 
the Hessian field-officers, taken at Trenton, or 
Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, unless Lee is rec- 
ognized as a prisoner of war. Lee is therefore 
retained for further instructions, being appre- 
hensive, that a close confinement of the Hes- 
sia,n officers would be the consequence of send 
iog Lee to Britain, and that this would occa- 
sion much discontent among the foreign troops.'' 
Tlie minister took counsel of prudence, and re- 
plied, "His Majesty consents that Lee, having 
been struck off the half-pay Ust, shall, though 
deserving the most exemplary punishment, be 
deemed a prisoner of war, and he may be ex- 
changed as such when you may think proper." 
Thb was nine months after General Lee's cap- 
ture, during which time his fate was held in 



suspense; and it is evident, from the above ex- 
tracts, that he owed his rescue to the firm stand 
taken in his behalf by the American Congress 
and the Commander-inrchieC 

Justice to the character of General Howe re- 
quires it to be stated; however, that the rumor 
of his harsh treatment was unfounded. Although 
Lee was not permitted to go abroad on parole, 
yet he was furnished with comfortable apart- 
ments ; and, in a letter written by his own hand 
to Robert Morris, thea a member of Congress, 
he says, <' I have no occasion for money at pres? 
ent, as my table is very handsomely kept by the 
Genera], who has, indeed, treated me in all re« 
spects with kindness, generosity, and tendeih 
ness." When this letter was read in Congress, 
a resolve was passed directing the Hessian olSir 
cers to be treated in the same manper. 

In consequence of Lord George Germain^s 
last letter, General Lee was permitted to go 
abroad, on parole, anywhere within the limits, of 
New York. Some time afterwards, he was transp 
ferred to Philadelphia, then in possession of the 
British. Here, on the 5th of April, 1778, his 
parole was enlarged, granting him liberty to go 
mto the country beyond the British lines. He 
was exchanged early in the month of May, when 
he joined the America,n ardmy at VaJley Foig^. 



164 AMEBICAN BIOOBAPHT. 



CHAPTER XL 

Battle of Monmouth. — Lee opposes a general 
Action in a Council of War. — Takes Com- 
mand of the advanced Division. — Engages 
the Enemy. — Retreats. — Interview with Wash- 
ington. 

About the middle of June, the British evacu* 
ated Philadelphia, and Sir Henry Clinton began 
his march across New Jersey. His motions were, 
of course, closely watched by the Americans ; 
and, without delay, Washington crossed the Del- 
aware above Trenton. On the 24th of June, he 
arrived with his whole army at Hopewell, in 
New Jersey. On that day, a council of war was 
held, with the view of ascertaining the opinions 
of the officers as to future operations. 

At the opening of the council, the Command- 
er-in-chief stated the force of the enemy, ac- 
cording to the best information he could obtain, 
to be about ten thousand men. His own force 
then in camp amounted to ten thousand six 
hundred and eighty-four, rank and file, besides 
an advanced brigade of twelve hundred r^ular 
troops, and about the same number of militia, 
posted near the enemy, and hovering on their 
flanks and rear. In seven days, the retreating 



CHARLES LEE. 165 

army had advanced only forty miles, their march 
having been retarded by breaking down the 
bridges and felling trees across the roads. Sev- 
eral questions were then propounded to the 
council, of which the one of chief importance 
was, " Will it be advisable for us, of choice, to 
hazard a general action ? " A warm debate en- 
sued ; but, in the end, this question was decided 
in the negative by a majority of th*e officers. 
The opinion was nearly unanimous, however, 
that a detachment of fifteen hundred men should 
be sent to cooperate with those already near the 
enemy, in harassing their rear and flanks, and 
acting as circumstances might require. 

Lee was strenuously opposed to a general ac^ 
lion, on the ground of the disparity between the 
experience and discipline of the British troops 
and those who then composed the American ar- 
my. His opinion was supposed to have much 
influence with some of the other officers. No 
one urged a general action, at all events; but 
several of them were of opinion, that such 
arrangements should be made as might bring 
it on, if a favorable opportunity should present 
itself. 

Immediately after the council had dissolved, 
Greene, Lafayette, and Wayne, wrote separately 
to the Commander-in-chief, dissenting from the 
decision which a majority had approved, and giv- 



196 AMEBiOAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ing their reasons for acting with more vigor. ^' I 
cannot help thinking;" said Greene, '' that we 
magnify our difficulties beyond realities. We 
ate now in the most awkward situation in the 
wwld. We have come with great rapidity, until 
we have got near the enemy, and then our cour- 
age failed ua^ and we halted without attempting 
tKK do the ei^emy the least injury. People ex- 
pect something from us^ and our strength demands 
il» I aea by no means for rash measures ; but 
iHe mufit preserve our reputation. We can make 
a very serioua impression without any great risk ; 
and, if it should come to a general action^ the 
chance is greatly in our favor." 

li£ife.yette expressed similar sentiments, in lan- 
guid ooyt less forcible. He recommended that 
ali least twenty-five hundred or three thousand 
men should be sent to reenforce those already 
oa the enemy's flaaks and rear ; and, if they 
should bring on a general engagement, he could 
not see why, ^'with ten thousand men, it was 
mot proper to attack tea thousand English." 
Sleuken^ Du Portail, Wayne, and Paterson, ac- 
corded in these views ; so that half of the whole 
number of general officers were in favor of bring- 
ing the enemy to an action, if circumstances 
should lead to such a result, although none of 
tbem seemed to considec it advisable to make 
a direct assault witb that aim. 



CHARLES LSE. 167 

The Commander-in-chief was rather embar- 
rassed than assisted by the council. After it 
was over, fie probably agreed in opinion with 
Lafayette, who regretted that a council of war 
had been called, believing it not to have been 
" consistent with the good of the service, the 
advantage of the occasion, or, indeed, the au- 
thority of the Commander-in-chief." Washing- 
ton was well aware that the public would never 
be satisfied, if, with a force superior in numbers 
to that of the enemy, he should suffer Sir Hen- 
ry Clinton to march through the country, with- 
out attempting, at least, to strike such a blow 
as his strength would seem to justify. As the 
weight of responsibility rested on him, the coun- 
sels of his officers might guide his judgment, but 
not control his acts. He resolved to send out 
such a detachment as would harass the enemy, 
and check their progress, whilst, at the same 
time, he should march in person with the main 
body of his army, and take a position from which 
he could bring the whole into action, if an oc- 
casion should offer. 

The command of the advanced troops be- 
longed, of right, to General Lee. Disapproving 
the object, he manifested no eagerness to occu- 
py this post of honor due to his rank ; nor did 
he hesitate to avow his conviction of the in- 
expediency of the plan, and of the ill coase- 



158 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

quences that would follow. At the solicitation 
of Lafeyette, therefore, he consented to resign 
the command to that ardent and enterprising 
officer, who, with the approbation of Washing, 
ton, was placed at the head of the advanced 
troops. 

After a little time for reflection, however. Gen- 
eral Lee changed his mind. In a letter to the 
Commander-in-chief, the next day, he says, 
" When I first assented to the Marquis de La- 
fayette's taking command of the present detach- 
ment, I confess I viewed it in a very different 
light from that in which I view it at present. I 
considered it as a more proper business of a 
young, volunteering General, than of the second 
in command in the army; but I find it is con- 
sidered in a different manner. They say that a 
corps, consisting of six thousand men, is un- 
doubtedly the most honorable command, next 
to the Commander-in-chief; that my ceding it 
would, of course, have an odd appearance. I 
must entreat, therefore, after making a thou- 
sand apologies for the trouble my rash assent 
has occasioned you, that, if this detachment does 
march, I may have the command of it." 

Before this letter was received, Lafayette had 
already marched towards the enemy, -now but a 
few miles from the American camp. Washington 
complied with General Lee's request, and rein- 



CHARLES LEE. 169 

Stated him in the command ; explaining the cir- 
cumstances to Lafayette, who at once, with the 
cheerfulness with which he ever submitted to any 
personal sacrifice for the public service, acqui- 
esced in the change. 

General Lee took with him two additional 
brigades ; and the whole number of troops under 
his command, when he arrived at Englishtown, 
in the rear of the enemy, was about five thou- 
sand. At the distance of three miles, still further 
in the rear, was the main army, under Washing- 
ton, ready to support the advanced division at 
the shortest notice. 

During the night. General Washington learned 
that the British were encamped in open grounds 
near Monmouth Court House, four or five miles 
in advance of Lee ; and he resolved to attack 
them as soon as they should begin their march. 
Lee was ordered to make his dispositions ac^ 
cordingly, and to keep his men lying on their 
arms. At five o'clock the next morning, June 
28th, intelligence was received that the enemy's 
front was in motion ; and Washington immedi- 
ately despatched an aid-de-camp to Lee, directing 
him to move on and begin the attack, "unless 
there should be very powerful reasons to the 
contrary ; " vinforming him, at the same time, that 
the second division would come up to his sup- 
pmrt 



160 AM£BICAN fttOORAPHT. 

These orders were promptly executed by Gci*- 
eral Lee, and his division reached the ground, 
where the British had encamped the night be- 
fore, soon after they had left it, the rear colunlh 
being still in sight. On reconnoitring this col- 
umn, he judged it to be a covering party, and 
to consist of fifteen hundred or two thousand 
men, occupying a plain about a mile in breadth, 
between Monmouth Court House and the heights 
on the left. He then ordered General Wayne 
to file oflf and attack them in the rear, not vig- 
orously, but as a feint, with the design of keep- 
ing them on the ground, while Grayson's, Scott's, 
and Maxwell's brigades should march through a 
wood on the left, for the purpose of cutting off 
this party, and bringing it between two fires. 

Much time was spent in making these ar- 
rangements, owing to the nature of the grounds, 
intersected in some parts by ravines, and in oth- 
ers covered with wood. There was very little 
firing on either side, except a slight skirmish 
with Colonel Butler's regiment, and a cannonade 
kept up, for some time, from a few pieces of ar- 
tillery under Colonel Oswald. 

Meantime, Sir Henry Clinton, learning the sit- 
uation of his rear, brought back a reenforcement. 
This was done without the knowledge of Lee, 
as it was not within the range of his observation. 
He only perceived, upon reconnoitring, that the 



CHARLES LSS. 161 

enemy's force was larger than he had at first 
supposed. His plan for cutting off the rear, 
however, was thus defeated. He resolved, nev- 
ertheless, to hazard an engagement on that 
ground, which was the last he would have cho- 
sen, having a morass in his rear that would con- 
tract his movements, and embarrass his retreat, 
in case he should be pushed by the enemy. 

Whilst he was making the proper dispositions 
for this object in front and on the right, Scott 
moved from the wood on^he left towards the 
plain without orders, and, deceived by a column 
which he saw marching in an oblique direction 
towards the Court House across the plain, and 
which he thought was retreating, he likewise 
began to retreat. When this was made known 
to General Lee, he expressed great surprise and 
disapprobation ; but Scott had passed a ravine, 
and it was too late to correct the error without 
exposing his army to imminent hazard, as the 
enemy were near at hand. A retreat had thus 
begun without the knowledge, and against the 
intention, of General Lee. In the present con- 
juncture, however, he deemed it necessary to 
order a general retreat, and to form his troops on 
more advantageous ground in the rear. When 
he had marched back about two and a half 
miles, continually pressed by the enemy, with 
occasional skirmishes, and whilst his front 

VOL. VIIL 11 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

columns were just beginning to gain the high 
grounds where he intended to form them and 
oppose the enemy, he was met by General Wash- 
ington. This was at about twelve o'clock. 

Having heard the cannonade, and believing, 
from previous intelligence, that Lee had engaged 
the enemy, Washington had put the second 
division in motion, and was marching to his sup- 
port. Lee had strangely neglected to send him 
any notice of the retreat, although it had occu- 
pied nearly two houri|^ nor was it known to Wash- 
ington, till he met some of the stragglers in ad- 
vance of the retreating troops. His astonishment 
may well be imagined. In a state of excited 
feeling, which the occasion could not fail to pro- 
duce, he rode rapidly to the rear of the retreating 
columns, where he found General Lee. The 
interview is described by Lee himself in his de- 
fence before the court-martial. 

" When I arrived first in his presence, con- 
scious of having done nothing which could draw 
on me the least censure, but rather flattering 
myself with his congratulation and applause, 1 
confess I was disconcerted, astonished, and con- 
founded by the words and manner in which his 
Excellency accosted me. It was so novel and un- 
expected from a man, whose discretion, human- 
ity, ^nd decorum I had from the first of our ao- 
qiwntance stood in admiration of, that I was for 



CHARLES LEE. 163 

some time unable to make any coherent answer 
to questions so abrupt, and in a great measure to 
me unintelligible. The terms, I think, were these. 
* I desire to know, Sir, what is the reason, whence 
arises this disorder and confusion.' The man- 
ner in which he expressed them was much 
stronger and more severe than the expressions 
themselves. When I recovered myself sufficient- 
ly, I answered that I saw or knew of no confu- 
sion but what naturally arose from disobedience 
of orders, contradictory intelligence, and the im- 
pertinence and presumption of individuals, who 
were invested with no authority, intruding them- 
selves in matters above them and out of their 
sphere ; that the retreat in the first instance was 
contrary to my intentions, contrary to my orders, 
and contrary to my wishes." 

Washington replied, that all this might be 
true, but he ought not to have undertaken the 
enterprise, unless he intended to go through with 
it. He then rode away, and ordered some of 
the retreating regiments to be formed on the 
ground which he pointed out. In a short 
time he again returned, and asked Lee if he 
would take the command in that place. Lee 
assented, saying that the command had before 
been given to him. " I expect, then," said 
Washington, ^^ that nieasures will immediately be 
taken to check the enemy ; " to which Lee made 



164 AMEBICAN BIOQ&APHT. 

answer, that ^' his orders should be obeyed, and 
he would be the last to leave the field." Wash- 
ington rode back to the rear division, and pre- 
pared to bring it into action. 

Lee executed the orders he had just received 
with promptness and energy. The troops were 
formed in the face of the enemy ; a sharp con- 
flict ensued, which he sustained with firmness, 
and finally brought ofi* his troops in good order, 
while the main army was forming in the rear. 
When General Washington came up to him a 
second time, Lee said, ^^ Here, Sir, are my troops ; 
how is it your pleasure that I should dispose of 
them?" He was directed to arrange them at 
Englishtown. This was three miles from the 
scene of action. On Lee's arrival, he found 
General Steuben engaged in the duty assigned to 
him, and of course his presence was not neces- 
sary. He went back to the field, and offered his 
services to the Commander-in-chief wherever they 
might be required. How he was employed is 
uncertain, for no more is heard of him during the 
day. 

A general action immediately followed, which 
was kept up without intermission till darkness 
separated the combatants. The American troops 
lay on their arms through the night, expecting to 
renew the engagement in the morning. They 
were disappointed in this expectation. The 



CHARLES LEE. 165 

British, having no other object than a quick and 
safe passage to Sandy Hook, whence they would 
be conveyed to New York by water, marched 
away silently in the night, and joined their front 
division, which had charge of the long train of 
baggage brought from Philadelphia. 



CHAPTER Xn. 

Correspondence between Lee and Washington.--^ 
Lee^s Arrest, — Charges. — Trial by a Court- 
Martial, — Remarks on the Testimony ^ and on 
the Decision of the Court. . 

The affair at Monmouth caused the ruin of 
General Lee. Whatever may be thought of his 
motives or his conduct in the part he acted, his 
precipitancy and rashness afterwards brought him 
into difficulties, which thickened as he advanced, 
and from which it was never in his power to 
extricate himself. It was natural that he should 
be wounded and mortified by the events of the 
day ; but he fell upon the most indiscreet method 
imaginable for obtaining redress, even admitting 
his grievances to have been as great as he would 
make them. Instead of a calm appeal to the 



1$6 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

public, by requesting, in respectful terms, t court 
of inquiry,^ he wrote vehement letters to the 
Commander-in-chief, breathing a spirit, and mani- 
festing a temper, which none could approve, and 
many would condemn. He thereby lost, at the 
outset, the advantage gained by dignity and self- 
command in supporting even a just cause, and 
laid himself open on every side to suspicion, 
prejudice, and censure. Two days after the 
battle, while the army was at Englishtown, he 
wrote as follows to Washington. 

"From the knowledge I have of your Excel- 
lency's character, I must conclude that nothing 
but the misinformation of some very stupid, or 
misrepresentation of some very wicked person, 
could have occasioned your making use of so 
very singular expressions as you did on my com- 
ing up to the ground where you had taken post. 
They implied that I was guilty either of disobe- 
dience of orders, want of conduct, or want of 
courage. Your Excellency will therefore infi- 
nitely oblige me, by letting me know on which 
of these articles you ground your charge, that I 
may prepare for my justification, which I have the 
happiness to be confident I can do to the army, 
to the Congress, to America, and to the world 
in general. Your Excellency must give me leave 
to observe, that neither yourself, nor those about 
your person, could, from your situation, be in the 



CHARLES LEE. 167 

least judges of the merits or demerits of our 
manceuvres; and, to speak with a becoming 
pride, I can assert that to these manceuvres the 
success of the day was entirely owing. I can 
boldly say, that, had we remained on the first 
ground, or had we advanced, or had the retreat 
been conducted in a manner different from what 
it was, this whole army, and the interests of 
America, would have risked being sacrificed. 

" I ever had, and hope I ever shall have, the 
greatest respect and veneration for General Wash- 
ington. I think him endowed with many great 
and good qualities ; but in this instance I must 
pronounce, that he has been guilty of an act of 
cruel injustice towards a man, who certainly has 
some pretensions to the regard of every servant of 
this country. And I think. Sir, I have a right to 
demand some reparation for the injury committed ; 
and, unless I can obtain it, I must in justice to 
myself, when this campaign is closed, which I 
believe will close the war, retire from a service 
at the head of which is placed a man capable of 
offering such injuries. But at the same time, 
ia justice to you, I must repeat that I from my 
soul believe, that it was not a motion of your 
own breast, but instigated by some of those dirty 
earwigs, who will forever insinuate themselves 
near persons in high office ; for I really am con- 
vinced, that when General Washington acts from 



168 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

himself, no man in his army will have reason to 
complain of injustice or indecorum." 

Washington replied, "I have received your 
letter, expressed, as I conceive, in terms highly 
improper. I am not conscious of having made 
use of any very singular expressions at the time 
of meeting you, as you intimate. What I recol- 
lect to have said was dictated by duty, and 
warranted by the occasion. As soon as circum- 
stances will permit, you shall have an opportunity 
of justifying yourself to the army, to Congress, 
to America, and to the world in general, or of 
convincing them that you were guilty of a breach 
of orders, and of misbehavior before the enemy, 
on the 28th instant, in not attacking them as you 
had been directed, and in making an unnecessary, 
disorderly, and shameful retreat." 

To this brief answer. General Lee returned 
another still more brief. "You cannot afford 
me greater pleasure, Sir, than in giving me an 
opportunity of showing to America the sufficiency 
of her respective servants. I trust that the tem- 
porary power of oflSce, and the tinsel dignity at- 
tending it, will not be able, by all the mists they 
can raise, to offuscate the bright rays of truth. 
In the mean time, your Excellency can have no 
objection to my retiring from the army." 

He was put under arrest the same day, and 
a copy of the charges was presented to him. 



CHARLES LES. 169 

He bad requested that he might be brought to 
trial before a court-martial without delay. The 
charges were, " First, Disobedience of orders in 
not attacking the enemy on the 28th of June, 
agreeably to repeated instructions; Secondly, 
Misbehavior before the enemy on the same day, 
by making an unnecessary, disorderly, and shame- 
ful retreat; Thirdly, Disrespect to the Com- 
mander-in-chief, in two letters." A court-mar- 
tial was convened on the 4th of July, consisting 
of five general oflScers and eight colonels. Lord 
Stirling was the president. The proceedings of 
the court were retarded by the march of the 
army, and they were not closed till the 12th of 
August. 

Nearly all the oflScers of rank, who acted 
under General Lee, were examined. The tes- 
timony is voluminous, and encumbered with a 
body of details, which, when taken in the mass, 
convey but a confused idea of the manceuvres 
of the day to one who looks at them only through 
this medium. The subject was evidently sifted 
to the bottom. General Lee's defence before 
the court, and his remarks on the evidence, are 
ingenious and able, but more tinctured with 
bold and pungent expressions, which abound in 
his other compositions, than was perhaps expe- 
dient on such an occasion. The court found 
him guilty upon all the charges; modifying the 



no AMERICAN BIOGBAPHT* 

second, however, by leaving out the word ^^ shame- 
ful," and deciding the retreat to have been " in 
some instances" disorderly. He was sentenced 
to be suspended from any command in the army 
for twelve months.* 

For the result of the trial, and this heavy 
sentence, General Lee appears to have been 
wholly unprepared. Either from a conviction of 
his innocence, a too sanguine temperament/ con- 
fidence in the weight of his character, or all 
these combined, he had cherished the belief that 
he should at least be cleared from the first two 
charges. And, indeed, whoever will now ex- 
amine the testimony, and rely alone on the facts 
there stated for the grounds of his judgment, 

• Congress ordered one hundred copies of the proceed- 
ings of the court-martial to be printed for the use of the 
members. In the year 1823, Mr. Jacob Morris, a friend of 
General Lee, who was a volunteer in a troop of dragoons 
at the battle of Monmouth, caused an edition to be pub- 
lished at Cooperstown, in the state of New York. In his 
notice to the public, prefixed to the volume, Mr. Morris 
sajrs, "To do justice to the memory of a gallant, frank, 
and warm-hearted soldier of tlie revolution, who, although 
not a native bom American, was surpassed by few of that 
eventful period in zeal and devotion to the cause of this 
country, I have directed to be republished the proceedings 
of the court-martial, that decided on the conduct of Gen- 
eral Lee at the battle of Monmouth." In his opinion, the 
proceedings will prove, to a dispassionate reader of the 
present day, that General Lee "was harshly dealt by." 



CHARLES LEE. Wll 

will not easily discover the proofs by which the 
charges were sustained in the minds of the 
( officers who constituted the court. 
^ In the first place, the orders fpr attacking 
the enemy were discretionary. He was not re- 
quired to attack at all hazards, but only in case 
there should not be powerful reasons to the con- 
trary, and of these reasons he must of course 
be the judge ; although he could not doubt that 
an attack was the principle upon which General 
Washington intended him to act. Lee insisted 
that an officer could not strictly be chargeable 
with disobedience of a discretionary order. 

Again, there was positive proof that he did 
attack the enemy, and that his first manoeuvres 
were designed to cut off their rear-guard. And 
even after this part of the enemy's force was 
ascertained to be much larger than was at first 
supposed, he was still pursuing the same design, 
when the detachments on his left began to re- 
treat without his orders, till they had arrived in 
such a position as would render it hazardous to 
reverse their movement in the face of the ene- 
my, and bring them into action on the ground 
then occupied. In this state of things he or- 
dered, or rather allowed, a general retreat, for 
it does not appear by the testimony that any 
officer at that time received from General Lee 
a positive order to retreat. He declared it to 



172 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

have been his intention to form the retreating 
troops on the first suitable ground, and meet the 
enemy there; but no ^uch ground came in his 
way, till he, met General Washington. 

The testimony contains nothing at variance 
with this declaration. He maintained, moreover, 
that the retreat was a fortunate accident, be- 
cause the main army was then five or six miles 
in his rear, and could not have come up in 
season to afford him the requisite support while 
engaged with the superior force of the British 
on disadvantageous ground, especially as the 
enemy's cavalry was numerous, and could act 
with facility on both his wings. He claimed 
merit, therefore, for having brought off his troops 
without loss to a position in which they were 
enabled to join in the general action of the 
day. 

As to the retreat being disorderly, the case 
was not made out very clearly before the court. 
Some of the witnesses said they saw regiments 
in disorder, but no officer declared his own 
troops to have been in that condition. Others 
said the troops seen by them were marching in 
good order. The truth seems to have been, that 
the extreme heat of the weather, the consequent 
fisitigue of the men, and the nattfre of the ground, 
caused some of the troops to move in a scat- 
tered manner; whilst others, under more favor- 



CHARLES LEE. 17S 

able circumstances, marched regularly and in a 
compact form. Not a single regiment was cut 
off or essentially molested by the enemy ; they 
were all formed without difficulty at the end of 
their march ; and these facts would not seem to 
indicate so great a disorder as to render the 
commander culpable. 

General Lee was guilty of one fault, however, 
which admitted of no defence or palliation ; the 
neglect to send to the Commander-in-chief in- 
telligence of the retrograde movement of the 
troops. With the enemy pressing closely upon 
his rear, he was marching directly into the front 
of the other division without giving the least, 
notice of his approach. This negligence might 
have produced fatal consequences to both divis- 
ions of the army. On this point General Lee's 
explanation is lame and inconclusive. The de- 
gree of censure it deserved must depend on his 
motives, which cannot be known ; but the act 
itself was undoubtedly censurable. 

It is evident, from the testimony, that a strong 
prejudice against General Lee existed among the 
officers, and probably in the great body of the 
army, whilst the trial was in progress. This 
was owing mainly to his own imprudence. His 
conversation after he left the field was extremely 
indiscreet; reports of this conversation went 
abroad, and were even allowed to be produced 



174 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

in evidence before the court. He talked freely 
and openly of the inferiority of the American 
troops in discipline and cavalry to those under 
Sir Henry Clinton, of his opposition to a gen- 
eral attack from the beginning, and of the rash- 
ness and inexpediency of such a measure when 
the independence of America was, secured by 
the recent alliance with France. He also cen- 
sured General Washington for ordering an at- 
tack after the decision of a council of war against 
it. These ideas were so little accordant with 
the known spirit and military ardor of General 
Lee, with his eagerness on all occasions for 
distinction in arms, that his sincerity seemed 
questionable to many, and secret motives of a 
personal nature were surmised to lie at the 
bottom. 

His state of mind, and manner of speech, may 
be understood by an extract from a letter to 
Joseph Reed, President of Pennsylvania, dated 
July 22d, while the trial was pending. 

"You tell me I have much sunk in the pub- 
lic esteem and confidence. A\\ I can say in 
reply is, if a community, for whom I have sac- 
rificed everything, can so easily form conclusions, 
they, and not I, are the immediate objects of 
compassion. You tell me this is a time I have 
occasion for friends. As a man of society, I wish, 
and ever did wish, for a number of friends, the 



CHARLES LEE. 17£ 

greater the number the more the honor and 
pleasure; but if you mean friends to support 
my cause on the present occasion, I despise the 
thought; I ask only for common justice. I am 
conscious that nothing but cabal, artifices, pow- 
ers, and iniquity, can tarnish my name for a 
moment ; but, if they are to prevail on the com- 
munity, as to myself, impavidum ferient ruina. 
No attack, it seems, can be made on General 
Washington, but it must recoil on the assailant. 
I never entertained the most distant wish or in- 
tention of attacking General Washington ; I have 
ever honored and respected him as a man and 
a citizen ; but, if the circle which surrounds him 
chooses to erect him into an infallible divinity, 
f shall certainly prove a heretic ; and if, great 
as he is, he can attempt wounding everything I 
ought to hold dear, he must thank his priests if 
his deityship gets scratched in the scuffle. 

" When you say I have now put it out of the 
power of my friends, in and out of Congress, to 
offer a word in my defence, upon my honor I 
know not what you mean. I repeat, I demand 
nothing from the public but justice. I have 
been grossly, villanously dealt with, and the 
dread of no power on earth shall prevent me 
from exposing the wickedness of my persecutors. 
I wish not to attack ; but must, it is my duty to 
defend. If this is thought dangerous, I muBl 



176 * AMEBICAN BIOGBAPHT. 

observe that the blood and treasure expended in 
this war have been expended in vain ; as North 
and Mansfield, if they had succeeded, could not 
possibly have established a more odious des- 
potism," 

From the impatience of his temper, and his 
high spirit, we may presume he did not refrain 
from expressing sentiments of a similar import 
in camp and to his other correspondents ; and 
these sentiments were certainly not of a kind to 
conciliate public favor, or the good will of those 
around him. The disrespectful and even insult- 
ing language, which he had allowed himself to 
use in his two letters to Washington, could not 
be overlooked nor easily forgiven. Such was 
the hold which Washington had gained on the 
affections of the army and of the whole people, 
after a long experience of his ability and public 
virtue, and such was believed to be the impor- 
tance to the country of maintaining him in the 
high position in which his character and the 
voice of the nation had placed him, that so bold 
an assault was accounted little less than treason 
to the American cause. These impressions and 
facts, connected with Lee's disregard of orders 
before his capture, which was now remembered 
agi^inst him, helped to foster the apprehension of 
a sinister design, on his part, to effect tlie ruin 
of Washington, with the ambitious hope of be- 



CHARLES LEE. 177 

coming his successor. Without impeaching the 
fidelity or candor of the members of the court, 
therefore, it may reasonably be supposed tliat 
the influences on their minds, derived from these 
considerations, may have thrown a stronger col- 
oring upon the testimony against (reneral Lee, 
m regard to the first two charges, than would 
be seen by one who now looks simply at the 
facts of the case recorded in the testimony it- 
self.* 

The question may be asked, why Washington 
should prefer such charges, if there were not the 
clearest positive proofs for sustaining them. This 
question has been answered by Chief Justice 
Marshall. '^ Previous to the arrest, and to the 
answer given to the first letter received from 
General Lee, accusations against his conduct had 

* General Lee maintained, that the two letters ought 
never to have been submitted to the consideration of the 
couit-martiaL ''Most certainly," he says, ''they do not 
come under the article of war, the intention of which is to 
restrain officers and soldiers from writing or speaking dis- 
respectfully of the Conmiander-in-chief. These letters were 
private letters of remonstrance and expostulation, betwixt 
officer and officer, for injuries conceived to have been of- 
fered, and ought to have been considered as such only." 
No other person, probably, would entertain this opinion. 
The letters related to public transactions, and must have 
been intended by the writer to produce an impression on 
the public. 

VOL. VIII. 12 



178 AMERICAN BIOGBAFHT. 

been made by several officers of his detachment, 
and particularly by Generals Wayne and Scott, 
in which the transactions of the day, not being 
well understood, were represented in colors much 
more unfavorable to Lee than those which, on a 
full investigation, they afterwards wore. These 
representations, most probably, produced the 
strength of the expressions contained in the sec- 
ond article of the charge."* It should be re- 
membered, also, that neither Wayne nor any 
other officer, at the time the charges were issued, 
was acquainted with fill the plans and move- 
ments of the Commander, nor with the important 
circumstance of the rear division of the enemy 
being much enlarged by a detachment from the 
main army, during General Lee's manoeuvres 
before the retreat. 

But, in whatever light we may now view the 
subject, it is certain the decision of the court 
met with entire approbation from the army and 
the public generally. The tide of popular favor, 
which had run so high in the first year of the 
war, and which, indeed, had continued without 
much diminution till the battle of Monmouth, 
was now effectually turned. And in producing 
this change. General Lee's indiscretions had been 
chiefly instrumental ; they inflamed the public 

• Maish&ll's Uft qf WashingUm, VoL HI. p. 48L 



CHARLES LEE. 179 

mind, and rendered his trial necessary. There 
is no reason for supposing that General Wash- 
ington intended to take any official notice of his 
conduct on the field of Monmouth, if he had 
not been driven to it by the rash and imperious 
tone of the unfortunate letters. The events of 
that day would have been left to tell their own 
story, and to make such impressions on the minds 
of men as their merits or demerits deserved. 



CHAPTER Xin. 

J)eci$ion of the Court-'Martial laid before Con^ 
gress. — Confirmedy after much Delay. — Lee 
retires to hi$ Estate in Virginia. — His Man- 
ner of Life. — Writes Political and Military 
Queries. — Washington's RetnarJcs on them. — 
Lee resigns his Commission in the Army, which 
is accepted by Congress. 

The proceedings of the court-martial were not 
final ; they were to be approved or set aside by 
Congress. Leaving the army, General Lee re- 
paired to Philadelphia, intending there to await 
the issue, apparently confident that the decision 
would be reversed. While on his way, he wrote 



i 



180 AMERICAN BIOQRAFHT. 

to his friend, Dr. Rush, in language sufficiently 
expressive of his opinion of the court. 

'^ I find that you are not thoroughly persuaded 
of the propriety of my conduct on the 28th of 
June. Your letter implies that I did blunder. 
Now, if I did, I am incorrigible ; for I declare 
solemnly, if the transactions of that day were to 
be done over again, I should do just the same. 
I aver, that my conduct was in every respect irre- 
proachable ; that it will stand the strictest scru- 
tiny of every judge. I aver, that my' court-martial 
was a court of inquisition ; that there was not a 
single member with a military idea, at least if I 
may pronounce from the different questions they 
put to the evidences. And I may with all char- 
ity pronounce, that, if they could have proved 
that I had only, in the course of the day, uttered 
the word retreat^ they would have sentenced me 
to an ignominious death, or at least cashiered 
me with infamy. But this retreat, though ne- 
cessary, was fortunately brought about contrary 
to my orders, contrary to my intention; and, 
if anything can deduct from my credit, it is 
that I did not order a retreat which was so 



Such effusions of imbittered feeling, uttered, 
as they probably were, in the ear of every willing 
listener, while the matter was still in suspense, 



CHARLES LEE. « 181 

were not likely to increase the number of his 
friends, or gain advocates for his cause. In the 
present condition of his affairs, a dignified re- 
serve, in regard to himself and his opponents, 
and a calm explanation and defence of his con- 
duct, virould have opened a more direct channel 
to the sympathy of the public ; .or, if he was too 
proud to seek for sympathy, such a course would 
more readily have unbarred to him the gates of 
justice, the end at which he professeS to aim. 

fThere are times when the stoutest and bravest 
heart must yield to the necessity of circum- 
stances, and take a lesson from the humble vir- 

t tues of prudence and submission. Such was 
jjaow the situation of General Lee. He could 
not control his destiny, and he was unequal to 
the task of so far controlling himself as to sub- 
mit to it His haughty spirit, irritable temper, 
and resolute self-confidence, bore him away on 
the tide of his ill fortune, till he was plunged 
into embarrassments from which he could not 
escape. 

He betrayed much impatience, and apparently 
not without reason, at the delay of Congress in 
coming to a final decision on the proceedings 
of the court-martial. The subject was kept in 
suspense by that body more than three months. 
During this delay, General Lee wrote a respect- 



132 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHl 

fill letter to the President, representing the deli- 
cacy of his situation, and urging speedy action. 
"An additional motive for requesting it," he 
says, " is, that I find the Congress is every day 
growing tliinner ; and I confess I could most ar- 
dently wish that the Congress was not only as 
complete as possible, but that, if it were agreea- 
ble to the rules of the house, the people at 
large might be admitted to form an audience, 
when the 'discussion is entered into of the jus- 
tice or iniquity, wisdom or absurdity, of the sen- 
tence that has been passed upon me." The 
affair was brought under discussion at nine dif- 
ferent times. As the Old Congress always sat 
with closed doors, neither the substance nor ten- 
or of the debates was known abroad. At length, 
on the 5th of December, the sentence of the 
court-martial was confirmed by a majority of the 
members then present. It was, indeed, a thin 
house, consisting of only twenty-one members, of 
whom twenty voted, thirteen in the affirmative, 
and seven in the negative. Several members 
had left Congress while the subject was under 
consideration.* 

*' Afler the proceedings of the court-martia] had been 
laid before Congress, General Lee forwarded the testimony 
of Major Clarke, which, by some oversight, had not been 
rendered to the court The testimony, probably as being 
out of order, was not admitted by Congress. Major Clarke 



CHARLES LEE. 188 

The debates were understood to have been 
warm as well as protracted. The spirit engender 
ed the year before, by Conway* s Cabal, with which 
the national counsels are known to have been 
more or less contaminated, was not as yet wholly 
laid to rest. It was the purpose of that restless 
and ambitious officer, and his associates, to drive 
Washington from the command of the army, either 
by worrying him into a resignation, or by raising 

came to General Lee, with orders from General Washington, 
just at the time the retreat began. The orders were, that 
*♦ he should annoy the enemy as much as in his power, but 
at the same time should proceed with caution." Major 
Clarke understood the orders to be discretionary. Greneral 
JLee told him to inform the Commander-in-chief, that, " by 
too much precipitancy in one of his brigadiers, and false in- 
teUigence, his troops were thrown into coniusion, and he 
was retiring." Major Clarke affirms, that he delivered this 
message to Washington. There was no proof before the 
court of such a message having been delivered ; and, in 
&ct, General Lee did not allege, in liis defence, that he had 
sent to Washington any notice of his retreat In the hurry 
of the moment, it had probably escaped his recollection. 
It is certain that the message was not delivered to Washing- 
ton in such a manner as to convey to him any inteUigence 
of a retreat, and it is also certain that General Lee himself 
had no remembrance of such a message. 

The members of Congress, who voted against confirming 
the sentence of the court-martial, were Whipple of New 
Hampshire, Samuel Adams and LoveD of Massachusetts, 
Carmichael of Maryland, Smith of Virginia, Harnett of 
North Carolina, and Langworthy of Georgia. 



184 AMERICAN" BIOORAPHT. 

the popular cry against him to such a pitch, as to 
make his dismission from the service necessary. 
This treacherous attempt signally failed, but not 
till it had worked much mischief, by inflaming the 
passions of men and the violence of party, both in 
the army and in Congress. The brilliant achieve- 
ment of the American arms at Saratoga had 
thrown an accidental lustre around the name of 
Crates, and he was ostensibly put forward by the 
cabal as successor to the Commander-in-chief; 
but General Lee was believed to be the man 
really intended for that important station. 

It must be remembered, however, that he was 
at this time a close prisoner in New York, and 
could not have been personally concerned in any 
of these schemes of faction and treachery. But 
he had the imprudence, while his case was before 
Congress, to write for the newspapers a defence 
of Conway, who had been discharged from the 
public service with disgrace ; and although this 
performance was published without his name, yet 
it possessed so many of the characteristics of his 
style and manner of thinking and talking, that 
no one could mistake the authorship. These 
circumstances may have affected in some degree 
the debates in Congress, and the ultimate de- 
cision of that body. 

Meantime, General Lee's warmth of temper ana 
unguarded language involved him in other diffi- 



CHARLES LKK. 185 

culties. He could not conceal his resentments, 
nor refrain from giving utterance, on all occasions, 
to his secret thoughts and exasperated feelings. 
He spoke of Washington in terms of censure 
and abuse, which, even if warranted in his own 
opinion, could not fail to react upon himself and 
to the injury of his cause. Colonel Laurens, 
one of Washington's aids, distinguished for his 
chivalrous spirit and many high traits of char- 
acter, took this license of speech in serious part, 
and demanded the satisfaction to which he. said 
he was entitled by the near relation in which he 
stood to the Commander-in-chief. General Lee 
prompdy accepted the challenge ; a duel was 
fought with pistols, and he was wounded in the 
side. 

Soon afterwards, with more reason for his sup- 
port, he became embroiled in another quarrel. 
William Henry Drayton, Chief Justice of South 
Carolina, in a charge to the grand jury, the year 
before, took occasion to go out of his way, very 
unnecessarily as it would seem, to censure Gen- 
eral Lee's conduct in his march through New 
Jersey, accusing him of disobedience of orders. 
It certainly does not appear what a grand jury 
in South Carolina had to do with this question, 
nor upon what pretext a public functionary in a 
civil line should bring such an accusation, till 



186 AMEBICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the case had been examined by a military tri- 
bunal. 

^ General Lee naturally felt himselif injured, and 
called on Mr. Drayton, then a member of Con- 
gress, for an explanation. The latter answered, 
that he had spoken only what he believed to be 
true, and if General Lee would convince him to 
the contrary, he would retract the charge. This 
answer was not such as to satisfy the claims of 
wounded honor, or to calm a fiery spirit, espe- 
cially as Mr. Drayton had been one of his most 
active and determined adversaries in Congress; 
and Lee wrote him another letter, copiously 
seasoned with pointed and pungent expressions, 
which he knew so well how to use. Of this letter 
Mr. Drayton took no notice ; indeed, his friends 
say he sent it back unopened. Despairing of 
any other remedy, Lee, in military phrase, de- 
manded satisfaction. Mr. Drayton declined the 
challenge, on the ground, that duelling did not 
comport with his situation as a judge and mem- 
ber of Congress, and that he was not bound to 
" sacrifice his public reputation, and outrage his 
public character, merely to gratify General Lee in 
the line of his profession." Most persons will 
approve this decision ; but few will think he acted 
a just or strictly honorable part, when, in his 
official capacity, he voluntarily uttered a pubUc 



CHABLES LEV. 187 

censure upon a man, for a grave delinquency in 
a high trust, who had not been called to ac- 
count by his superiors, who was in no possible 
degree amenable to the grand jury of South 
Carolina for what he had done, and who was 
then a close prisoner with the enemy, unable to 
defend or explain his conduct.^ 

Lee remained in Philadelphia two or three 
months after his case was decided by Congress, 
and then retired to his estate in Berkeley county, 
Virginia, which he called Prato Rio. Here he 
lived more like a hermit than a citizen of the 
world, or the member of a civilized community. 
His house was little more than a shell, without 
partitions, and containing scarcely the necessary 
articles of furniture for the most common uses. 
To a gentleman, who visited him in this forlorn 
retreat, where he found a kitchen in one corner, 
a bed in another, books in a third, saddles and 
harness in a fourth, Lee said, ''Sir, it is the 
most convenient and economical establishment in 
the world. The lines of chalk, which you see 
on the floor, mark the divisions of the apart- 
ments, and I can sit in any corner, and give 
orders, and overlook the whole, without mov- 
ing from my chair." 

♦ John Drayton's Memoirs qf fhe Revoltxtumf VoL L 

p.xxiii. 



188 AMERICAN BIOOBAFHT. 

One of his foibles was a passionate fondness 
for horses and dogs ; and even during his visits, 
travels, and campaigns, his fiEUthful dogs were his 
constant companions, sometimes to the discomfort 
of his host, and to the terror of ladies who 
prided themselves upon the neatness of their 
carpets and rugs. To a friend, who rallied him 
on this point, he wrpte from camp, in his most 
prosperous days, '^ I am called whimsical, and a 
lover of dc^. As to the former charge, I am 
heartily glad it is my character; for, until the 
common routine of mankind is mended, I shall 
wish to remain and be thought eccentric; and, 
when my honest quadruped friends are equalled 
by the bipeds in fidelity, gratitude, or good sense, 
I will promise to become as warm a philanthro- 
pist as Mr. Addison himself affected to be. It 
certainly appears paradoxical, but, if you will ex- 
amine history, you will find all, or almost all, the 
enthusiasts for general liberty had the reputation 
of being cynically disposed." It is but fair to 
say, however, that in this description he hardly 
does himself justice. He had great colloquial 
powers, and there are abundant proofs of his 
having been a most agreeable companion to those 
whose society he sought. Eccentric he always 
was, more from nature than study, and for the 
most part in a way rather to amuse than offend 
his associates. In the solitude he had now 



CHARLES LEE. 189 

chosen for himself, however, he unquestionably 
secured the advantage of following the bent of 
his humor without restraint, and of enjoying to 
his heart's content the company of his dogs, his 
cynical disposition, and his whimsical eccentri- 
cities. 

But these resources for the employment of his 
thoughts did not prevent him from brooding over 
his misfortunes, and cherishing in his bosom the 
bitter recollection of his real or imagined wrongs. 
He made little effort, apparently, to stifle his re- 
sentments, and less to submit with patience to 
his wayward fate. Three months after his re- 
tirement, he wrote Queries, Political and Mili- 
tary, which begin with certain abstract proposi- 
tions on the nature of civil liberty, but chiefly 
consist of hints and questions on some of the 
events of the war; the drift of the whole being 
to cast a slur upon the character and military 
conduct of Washington. 

These Queries were designed for publication 
in Philadelphia, but no printer was courageous 
enough to admit them into his paper. At length 
they found a place in the Maryland Journal, 
published at Baltimore. The citizens were 
thrown into a ferment by what they deemed an 
audacious and unjust attack upon a man revered 
for his many virtues, elevated by his public sta- 
tion, and with whose good name the highest 



190 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

interests of the country were interwoven. To 
shield himself from the effects of popular indigna- 
tion, the printer acknowledged his error, and gave 
up the name of the author. Setting aside the 
temper and design of this performance, it was 
extremely ill-timed and impolitic in regard to 
the writer himself; he could gain nothing, but 
might lose much, by adding fuel to the flame he 
had already kindled, and putting new weapons 
into the hands of his enemies. He did not re- 
flect, that, although his spirit had not been 
broken by his hard fortune, yet his position in 
the eye of the public was changed ; and that, to 
a man in his situation, defiance and hardihood 
were the last methods by which he could hope to 
win back the favor he had lost, or to establish 
his cause on the broad basis of right and justice.* 

• After Washington had read the QueriM, he wrote to a 
friend, ^ The motives, which actuate this gentleman, can 
better be accounted for by himself than by me. If he can 
produce a single instance in which I have mentioned his 
name, after his trial commenced, where it yraa in my power 
to avoid it, and^ when it was not, where I have done it with 
the smallest degree of acrimony or disrespect, I will con- 
sent that the world shall view my character in as disrepu- 
table a light as he wishes to place it What cause there is, 
then, for such a profusion of venom, ns he is emitting upon 
all occasions, unless by an act of public duly, in bringing 
him to trial at his own solicitation, I have disappointed liim 
and raised his ire ; or he conceives that, in proportion as he 



CHARLES LEE. 191 

Of the monotonous life led by General l.ee 
in his seclusion, few incidents are known. Dur- 
ing the first year, he seldom left his estate. For 
some time he talked of going to Europe, and 
abandoning forever a country from which he had 
received only ingratitude and unjust reproach, in 
return for his many sacrifices and devoted ser- 
vice. This resolution, if ever seriously formed, 
was gradually relinquished. One bright spot in 
this year's history is worthy of notice. He wrote 
a complimentary letter to General Wayne, on 
the victory gained by the latter at Stony Point. 
A friendly correspondence ensued. Wayne had 
been his most forward and decided opponent 
in the affair of Monmouth. Lee's readiness to 

can darken the shades of my character, he illuminates his 
own ; whether these, I say, or motives still more hidden and 
dark, govern him, I shall not undertake to decide." Sparks's 
WdsMngtony VoL VI. p. 311. 

On another occasion, commenting likewise on a puhlica- 
tion of a similar stamp by General Lee, he said, " If he con- 
ceives that I was opposed to him, because he found himself 
disposed to enter into a party against me ; if he thought I 
stood in his road to preferment, and that it was therefore 
convenient to lessen me in the esteem of my countrymen, 
in order to pave the way for his own advancement, I have 
only to observe, that, as I never entertained any jealousy of 
him, so neither did I ever do more than conmion civility 
and proper respect to his rank required, to conciliate his 
good opinion. His temper and plans were too versatile and 
violent to attract my admiration.'' Ibid. p. 133. 



192 AMERICAN BIOG&APHT. 

applaud his merit on a subsequent occasion, and 
to preserve a continuance of his friendship, is a 
proof that he was not implacable, nor always led 
away by passion. 

Another incident, however, wears a different 
complexion. The term of his suspension from 
the service had expired, and it is not probable 
that he intended again to join the army. A 
rumor came to his ear, intimating a design of 
Congress to deprive him of his commission. In 
the heat of the moment, with characteristic pre- 
cipitancy, he indited the following brief epistle, 
without date, and despatched it to the President 
of Congress. 

" Berkeley County. 

« Sir, 

"I understand that it is in contempla- 
tion of Congress, on the principle of edonomy, 
to strike me out of their service. Congress 
must know very little of me, if they suppose that 
I would accept of their money, since the con- 
firmation of the wicked and infamous sentence 
which was passed upon me. 

" I am. Sir, &c. 

"Charles Lee." 

One measure only could, of course, be adopt- 
ed on the receipt of this letter, which was a 
resolution, "That Major-General Charles Lee 



CHARLES LEE. 188 

be informed that Congress have no further oc- 
casion for his services in the army of the United 
JBtates.^^ This intelligence could not surprise 
Greneral Lee, after his communication to the 
President. His answer demands notice, as being 
written in a more considerate tone, and exhibit- 
ing his character in a more amiable light, than 
had of late appeared either in his compositions 
or conduct. 

«» Berkeley County, January 30th, 1780. 

"Sir, 

"I have this day received your letter, 
with my dismission from the service of the 
United States ; nor can I complain of it as an 
act of injustice. The greatest respect is indis- 
pensably due to every public body of men, and, 
above all, to those who are the representatives, 
and at the same time the legislature, of a free 
people ; and I ingenuously confess that the note 
which I dictated was so far from being dressed 
in terms properly respectful, that they were high- 
ly improper, disrespectful, and even contuma- 
cious. But, although I do not mean to justify 
the measure, I flatter myself that I shall be able 
to extenuate the offensiveness by relating the 
circumstances which gave birth to it. 

" I unfortunately received letters from two 
friends, whose zeal for my service seems to have 
been greater than their intelligence was authen- 

VOL. VIII. 13 



194 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

tic, informing me that the same men who, by 
art and management, had brought about, in 9- 
thin house, the confirmation of the absurd and 
iniquitous sentence of the court-martial, were de- 
termined to pursue the matter still further, and, 
on the pretence of economy, to make a motion 
for the final removal of me from the army, as 
an encumbrance. It happened, at the very mo- 
ment these letters came to my hands, I was 
very much indisposed ; so much so, as not to be 
able to write myself;* and, at the same time, 
my horses were at the door, to carry me down 
the country, where business called me. The 
bodily pain I was in, joined to the misinforma- 
tion I received, ruffled my temper beyond all 
bounds; and the necessity of setting out imme- 
diately prevented me from giving myself time to 
consider the propriety or impropriety of what I 
was about. And thus these' two circumstances, 
concurring, gave birth to the note which I dic- 
tated, which no man can more sincerely repro- 
bate than I do myself, and for which I most 
sincerely beg pardon of Congress. 

'^ But. Sir, I must entreat that, in the acknowl- 
edging of the impropriety and indecorum of my 
conduct in this affair, it may not be supposed 

* He was likewise disabled from writing by a wound m 
his hand. 



CHABLES LEE. 195 

that I mean to court a restoration to the rank 
I held ; so far from it, that I do assure you, had 
not the incident fallen out, I should have re- 
quested Congress to accept my resignation, as, for 
obvious reasons, whilst the army is continued in 
its present circumstances, I could not serve with 
safety and dignity. My present acknowledg- 
ment, therefore, of the impropriety and indeco- 
rum of the measure I suffered myself to be hur- 
ried into, and my submission without a complaint 
to the subsequent decision of Congress, will, I 
hope, be attributed to the real motive, the con- 
viction of having done wrong. 

" I shall now. Sir, conclude, with sincerely 
wishing that Congress may find many servants 
ready to make as great sacrifices as I have made, 
and possessed with the same degree of zeal for 
their service as has from the beginning gov- 
erned all my actions, but with the good fortune 
never, by one act of imprudence, to incur their 
displeasure ; and I can, without arrogance, assert, 
on self-examination, that this is the only step in 
the whole line of my conduct which could justly 
furnish matter of offence to that honorable body. 
"I am. Sir, &c. 

" Charles Lee." 



196 AMERICAN BI06BAFHT. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Continues to reside at his Estate. -^ Engages k 
political Discussions, — Freedom of the Press, 
— Visits Baltimore and Philadelphia. — flit 
Death, — Remarks on his Character, and on 
some of the Incidents of his Life, 

Haying thus thrown off all connection with 
the army, he became more tranquil in mind, 
and entered with a considerable degree of in- 
terest into the discussion of public affairs and 
passing events, particularly such as occurred in 
Virginia. He had leisure to indulge his fond- 
ness for books. In one of his letters, he says 
he had just finished reading the whole of War- 
burton's " Divine Legation of Moses." At home, 
he continued to live in the same discomfort and 
seclusion as before ; but he made occasional visits 
to his friends, in different parts of the state, with 
whom his former attachments, and his powers of 
interesting and instructive conversation, rendered 
him a welcome guest.* 

• Among these friends were the family connections oi 
Mr. Monroe, afterwards President of the United States, 
then a young man in his minority. He was forming 
schemes of travel, and he wrote to General Lee, asking his 
advice on that subject and some others. The reply is cu- 



CHARLES LEE. \9^ 

If we may judge from a hint in a letter writ- 
ten to him by Mr. Ralph Wormeley, junior, of 
Rosegill, dated March 2d, 1780, he at one time 
thought of embarking in the career of politics. 
Alluding to some former transaction, Mr. Worme- 
ley says, 

" If I expressed my sentiments of General 
Lee's abilities and intentions^ I could not ex 
press them in any terms less pregnant than I 
did ; and I can faithfully assure you, that, had 
you represented Berkeley, I would have tried my 
interest in Middlesex. And, had I obtained a 
seat in the national assembly, I would have joined 
you hand and heart, by every effort of my abili- 
ties, every argument in my comprehension, to 

rious, as predicting the future success of his young friend, 
and touching a personal trait which always, in some de- 
gree, adhered to him. The following is an extract " The 
letter I received from you by Mr. White gave me the great- 
est pleasure, as it assures me of your love and aiSection. 
What he reports of you gives me still more, as it not only 
assures me of the certainty you have of well establishing 
yourself in fame and fortune, but the good figure you make 
flatters my vanity, as I have always asserted that you would 
appear one of the first characters of this country, if your 
shyness did not prevent the display of the knowledge and 
talents you possess. Mr. White tells me you have got rid 
of this mauvaise konte^ and only retain a certain degree of 
recommendatory modesty. I rejoice in it with all my soul, 
as I really love and esteem you most sincerely and aiSec- 
tionately." 



198 AMERICAN BIOGRAPIIT. 

bring about freedom of debate and the liberty 
of the press, without which the representative 
deliberations generate only faction and fetters, 
and noisy professions of patriotism become air. 
But necessity, state necessity, is the scythe that 
mows down every argument ; and you are not 
to be taught by me, that, by the assistance of 
this argument, there is no degree of despotism 
which may not be vindicated and imposed." 

The freedom of the press and of debate was 
a topic upon which General Lee often descanted, 
with his usual earnestness. This freedom he 
maintained to be the vital element of civil and 
political liberty. The custom of Congress and 
the state legislatures to sit with closed doors, 
thus shielding the opinions and conduct of the 
members from the watchful oversight of their 
constituents, he looked upon as defrauding the 
people of some of their most valuable rights. 
As to the freedom of the press, he said it had 
" no more existence in this country than at 
Rome or Constantinople." Not that it was 
chained by the laws, but by the heavier tram- 
mels of a perverted public opinion. Coming 
recently from a theatre where such writers as 
Junius, and others of his stamp, could with im- 
punity assail the public character and conduct of 
the highest men in the nation, he could not con- 
ceive that a republic, boasting of its new-born 



CHARLES LEE, 199 

liberty, should consent to wear so degrading a 
badge of slavery as that of restraint upon the 
press. An unreserved discussion of the acts and 
opinions of puMic men was, in his view, the great 
bulwark of freedom, a barrier against the inroads 
' of ambition, and an incentive to patriotism and 
the noblest virtues. 

He raised his voice against some of the acts 
of the Virginia legislature. Among these were 
" the tender law, inverting the eternal rules of 
justice, corrupting the morals of the people, in- 
citing and securing every kind of breach of faith 
and villany, and ruining the honest, the benevo- 
lent, and the generous ; and next, the conJisca» 
tion law, which strips indiscriminately of their 
property Whigs and Tories, friends and foes, 
women and orphans,^ for no crime, or even the 
color of any crime, unless eventual, unavoidable 
absence, from the necessity of their affairs, can 
be constituted a crime." He had good reason 
for denouncing the tender law, by which a de- 
preciated currency could be forced on a cred- 
itor at its nominal value. He made a bargain 
for selling his estate, and received the first pay- 
ment in sterling money. Before possession was 
given, he ascertained that the remainder, much 
the larger part of the whole, was to be paid in 
a depreciated paper currency, under the opera- 
tion of the tender law. He succeeded in release 



S^ra AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ing himself from the contract, and was enabled 
to refund the first payment by the timely aid of 
two of his friends, Robert Morris and William 
Ooddard. This coincidence of personal interest 
with what he considered a vicious and inequita- 
ble legislation, was accidentaL He was certainly 
as disinterested as any man ever could be in his 
steady and uncompromising defence of the rights 
and liberties of the people. 

An experiment of two or three years in the 
business of a practical farmer convinced him, that 
he was neither a skilful nor thrifty agriculturist. 
His farm was unprofitable, his agents unfaithful, 
and he resolved to change his mode of life. The 
plans he may have formed for the future are not 
known. He had held preliminary negotiations 
with several individuals for the sale of his estate, 
but none of tliem had been brought to maturity, 
when, early in the autumn of 1182, he made a 
visit to his friends in Baltimore. He remained 
in that city a few days, and then continued his 
journey to Philadelphia. Here he had scarcely 
established himself in lodgings at an inn, when 
he was seized witli an ague, followed by a fever, 
which baffled the skill of the physicians, and ter- 
minated his life on the 2d of October, at the age 
of fifty-one. In the delirium caused by the 
fever, the last words he was heard to say were^ 
" Stand by me, my brave grenadiers ! *' 



CHARL-KS UKVi^ 201 

Notwithstanding his late aberrations, the 
citizens of Philadelphia, and men high in office, 
had not foigotten his early services and generous 
zeal in the cause of their country, and all 
seemed impressed with the feeling, that they de- 
manded a grateful tear. Every mark of respect, 
which the occasion could require, was shown to 
his memory. He was buried with military hon- 
ors. His remains were deposited in the ceme- 
tery of Christ Church, and were followed to the 
grave by a large concourse of citizens, the Presi- 
dent of Congress and some of the members, the 
President and Council of Pennsylvania, the Min- 
ister Plenipotentiary of France, and several offi- 
cers of distinction, belonging to both the Ameri- 
can and French armies. 

Thus ended the eventful career of General 
Charles Lee, a man who filled no ordinary space 
in the eye of the world, and whose misfortunes 
stand in melancholy contrast with his brilliant 
accomplishments, and the admiration, which, for a 
timcy he drew from the willing and grateful hearts 
of a whole country. The preceding narrative 
will have failed of its aim, if it has not enabled 
the reader to form a judgment sufficiently exact 
of his character and his conduct; yet a few 
words more may not be misapplied or super- 
fluous. 

In the first place we may say, that he should 



202 AMEBICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

not be held accountable for the vehement pas- 
sions and extremely excitable temper, which had 
been wrought by nature into the very constitu- 
tion of his being. We may regret, and even 
condemn, his want of self-control ; yet some in- 
dulgence is certainly due to the infirmities of 
such a mind. Few men have had the trial of 
so many conflicting elements in their nature, and 
for this reason few are competent to judge with 
perfect candor of the difficulties to be encoun- 
tered in commanding and subduing them. At 
all events, it is neither reasonable nor just, that 
great qualities and high aspirations, steady in 
their action, should be darkened and thrown in 
the back ground by casual defects, transient in 
their operation, and seldom mischievous in their 
consequences. 

There are innumerable proofs of the constancy 
of his friendships ; and, if he was sometimes ca- 
pricious, the evidence now left to us will not 
warrant the charge of insincerity as being a trait 
of his character. His hostility to Washington 
affords the most memorable instance of an unfor- 
giving spirit. This root of bitterness he nour- 
ished in his bosom to the last; the hated idea 
haunted and tortured his imagination day and 
night; it was, with him, what he calls, on a 
different occasion, " the very madness of the 
moon ; " and he suffered no opportunity to 



CHARLES LEE. 

escape, either in writing or speaking, without 
pouring out the flood of his resentment and re- 
proaches. It would be idle to devise an apology 
for exhibitions of temper so wild and extrava- 
gant; but it should be remembered, that he 
looked upon the conduct of Washington towards 
him at Monmouth, however it might be inter- 
preted by others, as the deep fountain of all 
his misfortunes. Wounded pride, disappointed 
iiopes, a sinking reputation, blasted prospects, all 
the ills that brooded upon his soul, he referred 
to this source. In this conflict of heated passion 
and excited sensibility, he lost sight of his own 
indiscretions, and souglit solace by pampering his 
imagination with vain dreams of persecution and 
wrongs, and in uttering maledictions against their 
author. But in this there was no disguise ; he 
was the last man in the world to conceal his 
opinions, or mould them to suit the occasion ; and 
it should be said to his credit, that he was totally 
incapable of attempting any design by underhand 
means, plot, cabal, or intrigue, so often the resort 
of little minds and reckless ambition. 

With this prodigality of frankness on his part, 
it was impossible that Washington should not 
become well informed of his sentiments and his 
manner of divulging them. He allowed them to 
pass without notice. No letter written by him 
during the war has been found, touching the 



S04 AMEBICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

transactions of General Lee, except those here- 
tofore referred to, which were drawn from, him 
by published remarks on his conduct, of which 
General Lee was the avowed author. And, after 
the war, when an inquiry was made of him con- 
cerning the publication of General Lee's papers, 
he replied, with a dignity and calmness suited to 
bis character, 

" In answer to your letter, I can only say, that 
your own good judgment must direct you in the 
publication of the manuscript papers of General 
Lee. I can have no request to make concerning 
the work. I never had a difference with that 
gentleman but on public ground, and my con- 
duct towards him on this occasion was such only, 
as I felt myself indispensably bound to adopt in 
discharge of the public trust reposed in me. If 
this produced in him unfavorable sentiments of 
me, I yet can never consider the conduct I pur- 
sued, with respect to him, either wrong or im- 
proper, however I may regret that it may have 
been differently viewed by him, and that it ex- 
cited his censure and animadversions. Should 
there appear in General Lee's writings anything 
injurious or unfriendly to me, the impartial and 
dispassionate world must decide how far I de- 
served it from the general tenor of my conduct."* 

* This letter was written, June 11th, 1785, to Mr. Wil- 
liam Goddard, who had issued proposals for puhlishing the 



CHARLES LEE. SQ6 

In this extract every one will perceive the 
tone and spirit, the moderation, candor, and ele- 
► vation of mind, which he would expect from 
the character of Washington as it is now known 
to the world. At another lime, after General 
Lee's death, he said of him, that <' he possessed 
many great qualities." And, in v^hatever light 
the affair of Monmouth shall be viewed, it may 
with confidence be affirmed, that Washington 
took no steps of a personal nature, either di* 
rectly or indirectly, except such as were neces- 
sarily connected with that single event, which 
could in any degree tend to injure the char- 
acter of General Lee while living, or tarnish his 
memory after his earthly career was closed. 

Men of distinguished character, both in the 
civil and military line, possessing the confidence 
of their country, continued to be his friends to 
the last, notwithstanding the shade that had been 
cast upon him by his misfortunes. Among these 
he enumerated, in a private letter, a few months 
before his death, Robert Morris, Richard Henry 
Lee, Samuel Adams, Generals Schuyler, Sul- 
livan, Wayne, Greene, Knox, and several others. 
These were not men, who would cherish a friend- 
Writings of General Lee, in three volumes. The plan wafi 
never executed. The imperfect volume by Mr. Langworthy 
contains the only collection of the papers that * has been 
published. 



906 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

ship for one, whom they looked upon as culpa- 
bly delinquent in the exercise of a public trust, 
or as treacherous to the cause in which he* 
had so ardently engaged. There is another evi- 
dence of this friendship in a high quarter, which 
claims insertion. General Lincoln, then at the 
head of th§ Department pf War, received a 
letter on some public business from a gentleman 
ill Winchester, Virginia, to whom he wrote in 
reply, June 8th, 1782, "It affords me real 
pleasure to find, that I am regarded by the citi- 
zens of Winchester as General Lee's friend. Do 
me the justice to believe, that this opinion is 
perfectly corroborated by sentiments of esteem 
and affection, which I hope will always retain 
me such." 

In his last will, he paid a tribute of affectionate 
remembrance to several of his intimate friends, 
and of grateful generosity to the humble depend- 
ants, who had adhered to him and ministered 
to his wants in his retirement. The bulk of his 
estate in Berkeley was given to four individuals, 
as a testimony of his gratitude for the obliga- 
tions of kindness they had steadily conferred 
upon him through evil and good leport. All 
his other property, in every part of the world, 
was bequeathed to his only sister, Sydney Lee, 
to whom he was ever devotedly attached. 

Finally, in forming our general estimate of 



CHARLES LEE. SOT 

his character, after allowing all the weight they 
deserve to his weaknesses and faults, his errors 
and eccentricities, we must still acknowledge with 
Washington, that " he possessed many great qual- 
ities." From the first to the last, in his princi- 
ples, writings, and acts, he proved himself an 
uncompromising champion for the rights and lib- 
erties of mankind. He adopted the American 
cause under a firm conviction of its justice ; he 
threw into it the fervid energies of his whole 
soul, with a sincerity and heartiness which can- 
not be questioned. By the example of his en- 
thusiasm, by his military talents and resolute 
spirit, and by his successful enterprise in the 
early part of the war, he rendered important ser- 
vices to the country in the time of her greatest 
need. While we lament and condemn the faults 
which obscured his brighter qualities, let us not 
withhold from them the mantle of charity; let 
us not forget, that during his life the effects 
of them were severely visited upon him in his 
blighted hopes and defeated aims, nor refuse to 
his memory the award of gratitude and respect, 
which the prominent part he acted in the great 
struggle for American independence may right-^ 
fully claim. 



LIFE 

OF 

JOSEPH REED; 

fir 
HIS GRANDSON, 

HENHY KEEO. 



VOL. viii. 14 



I 



PREFACE 



This memoir of Joseph Reed, of Pennsylva- 
nia, has been prepared chiefly from original docu- 
ments, of which the greater part has not yet 
been published. His correspondence bearing 
upon public aflairs began in the early period of 
colonial discontent, and was continued until after 
the close of the revolutionary war. His position 
and the nature of his services rendered it exten- 
sive and various, and it has been preserved in a 
state of remarkable completeness. It has an es- 
pecial value in consequence of the voluminous 
correspondence which resulted from his intimacy 
with the two mbst eminent of his friends, Wash- 
ington and Greene. The addition of his own let- 
ters to various correspondents, which have been 
recovered, renders the collection very complete. 

Such materials may, it is believed, furnish an 
important contribution to American history, and 
also a just tribute to the character and services 
of a patriot of the revolution. This memoir^ 
being from the pen of a near and lineal descend- 
ant, has been written with a constant sense of 



318 PREFACE. 

the responsibility of preserving, in the fulfilment 
of a duty of filial piety, a strict and well sustained 
accuracy. Cherishing a natural and legitimate 
ancestral feeling, the writer has endeavored, at 
the same time, to maintain a reserve of eulogy, 
and to let the character and services of the 
subject of the memoir speak for themselves, in a 
simple narrative, and in the language of the con- 
temporaries who witnessed and appreciated them. 
It is in the discharge of both a public and a 
personal duty, that this tribute is rendered to the 
memory of one of the worthies of the revo- 
lution, who, after a career crovvded with services 
in the cause of his country, and with proofs of 
public confidence in him, sank into a premature 
grave, the strength of his life 

" overplied 

In liberty's defence." 



JOSEPH REED, 



CHAPTER I. 



Birth, and Parentage. — Education. — Study of 
the Law. — Influences of the Times. — Visit to 
England in 1763. — Student in the Mddle 
Temple. — Public Affairs in England and 
America. — Dennis de Berdt. — Return to 
America in 1765. — Visit to Boston in 1769. — 
Second Visit to England in 1770. — Marriage. 
— Return to America. — Removal to Phila- 
delphia. 

This memoir is of a life that belongs com- 
pletely and exclusively to the revolutionary period 
of American story. The years of Mr. Reed's 
manhood were almost exactly contemporary with 
that space of time, which, in the interval between 
the peace of 1763 and the treaty of 1783, 
comprehended colonial discontent, resistance, and 
independence. During the whole contest of the 
revolution, from the early acts of pacific c^posi- 



214 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

tion and remonstrance until the last year of his 
life, he bore his share in the public measures, 
and his career was a series of civic and mili- 
tary services, blended, as they are apt to be, in 
lives connected with civil strife and revolutionary 
change. 

' A simple narrative of his life, his duties, and 
the fulfilment of them, may serve to show how 
characteristic and illustrative it was of our revo* 
lution; and, like other memoirs of its kind, it 
may teach us to know at what sacrifice of indi- 
vidual happiness, and in what spirit, a nation's 
existence is virtuously acquired. It will be seen 
how the quiet aims of life were frustrated, 
how professional aspirations were suddenly and 
strangely changed, and how, when the peaceful 
citizen became a soldier, and that in a civil war, 
early associations were broken, and all relations, 
political, social, and domestic, were rudely forced 
into new channels by the controlling current of 
public events. It will be seen how the troubled 
periods of a people's history, bringing along with 
them so much of danger, perplexity, and distress, 
bring at the same time into the heart of man 
the seasonable virtues of fortitude, of unwearied 
and indomitable energy, of hopeful confidence in 
a good cause, and, above all, the spirit of self- 
sacrifice. 
Joseph Reed was bom at Trenton, in the 



JOSEPH REED. 215 

province of New Jersey, on the 27th of August, 
1742. His grandfather had migrated, in the lat- 
ter part of the previous century, from the north 
of Ireland, and, after a short residence in New 
England, travelled southward, and settled in East 
Jersey. Mr. Reed's father, Andrew Reed, was 
engaged in trade in the town of Trenton, and 
was also, for some years, commercially connected 
in Philadelphia, which was his place of residence 
during a part of his son's boyhood. He enjoyed 
the esteem and confidence of his fellow-towns- 
men, by whom he was chosen to be the first 
treasurer of the borough of Trenton, when the 
village was incorporated in 1746. He was a 
member of the Presbyterian church, in which 
connection his family was trained. In business 
he thrived ; and that he used the means, which 
industry and prosperity gave, like a sagacious and 
affectionate parent, is shown by the fact that he 
gave to his children the best education the 
country afforded. Indeed, to that son who is 
the subject of this memoir, and who gave sure 
and early promise of not only superior intellect, 
but also of the moral power to improve it, the 
best opportunities were given for professional 
education, in England as well as in the colonies. 
Joseph Reed received his elementary classical 
instruction in the " Academy of Philadelphia," an 
incorporated school, for the establishment of 



216 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

which the cause of provincial education was 
indebted chiefly to the sagacity and beneficence 
of Franklin. After receiving the thorough tui- 
tion of one of the old-fashioned pedagogues of 
the eighteenth century, Mr. Reed entered the 
New Jersey College at Princeton, under the presi- 
dency of Dr. Aaron Burr, and in 1757 the de- 
gree of bachelor of arts was conferred on him, 
when he was in his sixteenth year. A Latin 
oration, delivered by him on the occasion of his 
graduation, is preserved. As a college student he 
gained distinction, and appears to have laid a 
solid foundation for the studies of his profession, 
and for the various acquirements of liberal schol- 
arship. 

Mr. Reed's temporary residence at Princeton 
did not end with his connection with the college 
there, for it was at the same place that he was a 
student of law, under the direction of Richard 
Stockton, at that time probably the most distin- 
guished lawyer in the courts of New Jersey. In 
1763, just as he attained his majority, Mr. Reed 
was admitted to practice. The completion of 
his course of college studies at an early age had 
aUowed ample scope for accurate legal education, 
with which he appears to have judiciously com- 
bined that general cultivation, especially in his- 
tory and hterature, which liberalizes professional 
habits of thought and feeling, and which had the 



JOSEPH REED. 21T 

greater yalue for a man, for whom there was in 
reserve, little as he could then anticipate it, a 
sphere of action and of duty much larger than 
that of a mere provincial lawyer. 

Beside the formal processes of education, there 
are other influences, which are often unnoticed 
because less definite and less measurable, but 
which are essential to a just knowledge of the 
formation of character ; and in the careful study 
of American biography, it is important to trace 
the elements, which were combined to make the 
men of the revolutionary period of our history. 
Thus far, Mr. Reed's life had been the simple, 
undisturbed, and uneventful life of a student, 
looking forward to a tranquil professional career, 
and the condition of a British colonial subject. 
His knowledge of the world from other sources 
than books was probably limited to the society 
and the small circuit of New Jersey villages, and 
the neighboring city of Philadelphia. The peace- 
fulness of that region of country had not, in- 
deed, then been broken in upon, but elsewhere it 
was a stirring period in the history of the British 
empire, and, in truth, of the world ; and it is no 
idle speculation, to inquire what there was in 
those times, which would naturally have an in- 
fluence in forming the character of ingenuous and 
intelligent youth, with all its earnestness of feeling 
and all its irregular thoughtfulness. It is no inra^ 



218 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

tional effect of imagination, which pictures to the 
mind a group of young men gathered from the 
various colonies, in college chambers and halls, 
and catching intelligence, as it travelled in those 
days slowly from the frontiers, of French and 
Indian warfare. We may fancy the mingled 
pride and disappointment, with which they heard 
of the skirmish at the " Little Meadows," and of 
the defeated bravery of the Virginia officer, Ma- 
jor George Washington, with his small force ; and 
again, the deeper mortification and resentment, 
in their youthful breasts, at the news of Brad- 
dock's disaster, the massacre of his soldiers in a 
forest of Western Pennsylvania, and the head- 
long flight of the survivors. 

We are here looking back, let it be remem- 
bered, to years when nothing had yet transpired 
to destroy, or even impair, the sentiment of loy- 
alty to Great Britain in the mind of an Ameri- 
can colonist, but when, rather, there was much 
to sustain and cherish the feeling. England was 
engaged in one of her mightiest wars. The ori- 
gin of it was the defence of colonial boundaries 
in America, and the arena of hostilities was lar- 
ger than the earth had ever given to war before. 
Metropolis and colony had the sympathy of a 
common cause, and provincial militia was serving 
side by side with Britain's veteran and disciplined 
soldiery. Now, with reference to the influence 



JOSEPH REED. S19 

of such times upon the formation of a young 
man's character, it needs must be that a thought- 
ful, well-informed mind, in the freshness of early 
manhood, would be affected by the living pres- 
ence of the triumphant administration of the 
British empire by the first William Pitt. 

To a young American, such as the subject of 
this memoir, there was much, too, to bring home 
to his thoughts the glories that were won in 
quick succession by the policy of that " Great 
Commoner." It was for this continent, as well 
as for Europe, that the minister conceived his 
vast scheme of operations. It was at Philadel- 
phia that the forces commanded by Forbes were 
collected for the victorious march to Fort Du- 
quesne, to effect a conquest planned by Pitt him- 
self. The young colonist, who might have wit- 
nessed the departure of those troops, would 
scarce have heard the news of victory from the 
west, before there came from the north intelli- 
gence of Wolfe's brilliant campaign and heroic 
death ; and each ship that touched our shores 
from other countries came freighted with the 
story of the successive achievements of the year 
1759 ; a year which, by an admirable living his- 
torian,* has been fitly pronounced " the most glo- 
rious, probably, that England ever yet had seen."f 

• Lord Mahon. 

f It was at that time that, with the characteristic viva 



290 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

The heart of the British nation, throughout all 
its territory, whether "at home" (to use the 
phrase in those days given to England) or in 
the colonies, was raised from the torpor which 
seems to have weighed upon it since the inglo- 
rious peace of Utrecht ; and it was Chatham's 
proud and just boast in the House of CommcMis, 
the loftiest a minister could utter, that success 
had given unanimity, and not unanimity success. 
It was a strenuous age, which well might invig- 
orate the character of those who breathed in it 
If, indeed, there was much to bind the spirit of 
a young colonist more closely to the empire by 
the sentiment of a common glory, and to impress 
him with a sense of its vast resources and power 
in war, there was also much that might give that 
strength of character to resist, in after years, the 
same national force, when employed for colonial 
subjugation. 

• From such general speculation on the forma- 
tion of character, we may pass to some more 
definite influences, in which it is curious to trace 
the unconscious, and what may be considered 
providential, adaptation of the early to the later 
life, as we are reminded by viewing, in such con- 
nection, two periods of Mr. Reed's career. His 

city of his letters, Horace Walpole writes, "Indeed, one is 
forced to ask every morning what victory there is, for fear 
of misiiiig one." 



JOSEPH REED. 281 

early years, it will be observed, were spent in 
Trenton, the place of his birth, in Philadelphia, 
and in Princeton ; such residence as could hard- 
ly fail to give familiarity with the neighboring 
towns, and the contiguous portions of Pennsyl- 
vania and New Jersey. 

A few years pass by, and that self-same region 
becomes the scene of military operations, and in 
a very critical juncture of American affairs. 
Over that ground there was passing in flight an 
army, no longer colonial, but on whose reduced 
strength depended newly declared and doubtful 
independence ; and when, almost in desperation, 
it rallied for sudden attack upon the pursuing 
enemy, there was not a movement that could be 
made with any hope of success, without the most 
precise and minute knowledge of localities. The 
whole plan of operations, when retreat was of a 
sudden changed to assault, might have been frus- 
trated by information which was untrustworthy. 
Familiarity with fords, and by-roads, and dis- 
tances, was needful in order to make successful 
the surprise at Trenton, the second passage of 
the Delaware, and the night march upon Prince- 
ton ; and it was a happy circumstance, that, in 
the crisis of that campaign, Washington had 
near him one, and probably the only one among 
his military counsellors, who possessed such knowl- 
edge ; one who, from early life, was intimately 



222 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

acquainted with that section of country, which 
was the scene of hostilities at the end of 1776 
and beginning of 1777. 

When Joseph Reed, during boyhood at Tren- 
ton, and when, a little later, a student at Prince- 
ton, was rambling, as youth are wont to do, and 
musing, perhaps, upon the fresh intelligence that, 
in those stirring years, was so often carried from 
fields of battle lost or won in distant parts of 
British America or in Europe, how little could he 
have dreamed that, in no distant period, the tran- 
quil soil he was treading on would feel the weight 
of armies, and the quiet roads and the banks of 
peaceful streams be violated by warfare ; the 
academic halls of Princeton tenanted by hostile 
soldiery, and the neighboring orchards stained 
with the blood of British and American troops ! 
How distant from Reed's young imagination must 
have been such visions of the future, and how 
little could it ever have entered into his thoughts, 
that, in those years in which his mind was intent 
upon the studious acquisition of knowledge, to 
fit him for peaceful civic life, he was also, but 
without a care, and almost without consciousness 
of it, becoming possessed of information which 
was afterwards to serve an important military 
use, when the welfare of his country was greatly 
in jeopardy! 

After completing his course of law studies at 



JOSEPH REED. 2S3 

home, and having been admitted to practice in 
the courts of New Jersey, Mr. Reed immediately 
made arrangements for the further prosecution of 
his professional education. It was, at that time, 
not unusual for the young lawyers of this coun- 
try, especially in the middle and southern colo- 
nies, to complete their course of studies by 
attendance in the Inns of Court in London; 
adding two years' reading in the Temple to the 
regular term of colonial instruction. In 1763, Mr. 
Reed sailed for England, and resided in London, 
as a student of the Middle Temple, till the 
spring of 1765. It is only necessary to notice 
these dates, to see how likely a residence in 
England^at that time, was to render the legal 
education of a young American also a political 
education. He was there to witness the begin- 
ning of those changes, which, at the end of the 
Seven Years' War, were coming over the colo- 
nial policy of Great Britain. His mind was acute 
with that study of the law, which Mr. Burke, in 
a well-known passage in his speech on concilia- 
tion with America, noticed as one of what he 
styled " six capital sources " of the untractable 
temper of the English colonies under oppression 
or encroachment ; one of the elements of the 
vivid spirit of liberty among them. 

Reed was at this, time too young to take a 
prominent part with the friends of colonial rights. 



2S4 AMEBICAN BIOG&APHT. 

whom he speaks of, in his letters, as exertiiig 
themselves in England with spirit and industry 
to moderate the designs of the ministry, and as, 
therefore, entitled to a share of American grati- 
tude. The zeal of his naturally ardent temperar 
ment was heightened by the expectations of per- 
sonal friends at home, who were anxiously looking 
for information, as to the action of the ministry 
and Parliament. He appears to have kept up 
a constant correspondence on the subject of pub- 
lic afiairs, and early to have foreseen how the 
difficulties would be aggravated by the obstinate 
tenacity with which the policy towards the colo- 
nies, once determined on, was pursued. He 
quickly perceived, too, how the goverimient was 
embarrassing itself, and injuring the colonies, by 
the almost * wilful blindness with which it fol- 
lowed inaccurate and untrustworthy information. 
As early as June, 1764, Mr. Reed writes home, 
on the subject of the restrictions on the colonial 
trade, " Petitions properly urged, last winter, 
while these affairs were under the consideration 
of the legislature, might have been attended with 
some degree of success, and possibly procured 
some abatement; but they will now come too 
late." Speaking of the proposed system of rais- 
ing a revenue from the colonies, he adds, ^< Many 
things have occurred to precipitate this policy ; 
and, among them, the exaggerated accounts the 



JOSEPH REED. 

officers from America have given of its opulence, 
and our manner of living, have had no small 
share in it, as there has, in this way, been raised 
a very high and false notion of our capacity to 
bear a part in the national expenses." It ap- 
pears, from Reed's letters, that he was constant 
in his attendance upon the debates in Parlia- 
ment, especially in the House of Commons, when 
American affairs were under discussion ; and, in 
one of his letters, he expresses the gratification 
of having heard Mr. Pitt. 

While anxiously observing the course of polit- 
ical events in England, Mr. Reed's thoughts were 
turning with no less solicitude to the state of 
things at home, especially in the province of 
Pennsylvania. When intelligence reached him 
of occurrences, which he perceived would be 
made a pretext for injurious and oppressive 
colonial administration, he sends home words of 
warning, which have more the sound of mature 
than inexperienced manhood. Pennsylvania, at 
that time, had an Indian population on its fron- 
tiers, not more distant from Philadelphia than the 
country of the Susquehanna. Acts of violence, 
and treachery, and murder, became frequent; 
and, at length, the people on the border were 
wrought to such exasperation, that a party of 
them, collected from the frontier counties, and 
called from one of the townships "the Paxton 

VOL. VIII. 15 



WtO AMKmiCAX miocmAPHT. 

Boys," suqirised and pat to death a body of In- 
dians at Lancaster. The j came down as near 
10 Phfladelphia as Ciennantoini, tnmiiltiioasly de- 
manding that more ample proTision should be 
made for the protection of the frontiers, and a 
stricter centred asserted over the Indians. 

Mr. Reed, beii^ at London, looked at these 
prorincial distorbanoes in the laiger view at 
their ulterior relation to the general administration 
<^ the colonies, and, writing home, he warned 
his correspondents of the advantage which woold 
probably be taken of soch occorrences, at a time 
when it was especially desirable that the affiurs 
of the scYeral colonies should be conducted with 
discretion and r^ularity. ^^ As the weakness 
of the civil authority was," he said, ^^a pretext 
made before to send over troops which we are 
to maintain, you may be sure the ministry will 
consider every such disorder as an additicmal 
argument to prove the necessity of such a meas- 
ure, and, however injured the inhabitants of the 
frontiers may have been, their Grermantown ex- 
pedition may be the means of saddling their 
fellow subjects with an increased expense." 

On Mr. Reed's first visit to England, he was 
introduced to the hospitality and friendly offices 
of Mr. Dennis De Berdt, an eminent London 
merchant, with extensive commercial connections 
in America, and subsequently agent for the 



^ JOSEPH REED. SStl 

province of Massachusetts Bay.* From this gen- 
tleman and his family the young colonial stran- 
ger had the kind reception with which gentlemen 
from America were always welcomed. An ac- 
quaintance apparently transient, as between those 
whose homes for life were in different and dis- 
tant lands, proved, however, in the course of so- 
cial intimacy, the occasion of a reciprocal attach- 
ment between Mr. Reed and the only daughter 
of Mr. De Berdt. This attachment, romantic in 
its origin and difficulties, as well as in faithful 
continuance through much that was adverse, was 
near changing the scene of Mr. Reed's life. 
With the kindest feelings and respect for him, 
the parents of an only daughter, educated in the 
metropolis, and habituated to the modes of life 
there, could scarcely help regarding with some 
repugnance a marriage, that must separate their 
child from them by removal to the colonies. 
There seemed but one way of overcoming the 
difficulty, and Mr. De Berdt's consent to the 
engagement of his daughter was given on con- 
dition that Mr. Reed would, afVer arranging his 
affairs at home, return and settle in England, 
either to follow his profession, or such business 
as the influence and opportunities of a success- 
ful London merchant might open to him. 

• A portrait of Mr. De Berdt is honored with a place, at 
the present day, in the State House at Boston. 



888 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

Such were the fond pUins of an afTectionate 
parent, but they were controlled to different re- 
sults. There were in reserve for Reed the duties, 
the responsibilities, .and the honors of Americaa 
citizenship; and for the young Englishwoman, 
who shared his affections, and was willing to 
share his fortunes, there were reserved the cares 
of an American matron in the anxious and per- 
plexed years of civil strife and revolution. In 
a future page of her husband's biography, it will 
be no more than justice to speak of the true 
womanly heroism of her character; her meek 
fortitude ; of the unmurmuring and cheerful se- 
renity, with which she encountered the exposure 
and the distresses of the strange condition of a 
soldier's wife, driven from one home after an- 
other by the progress of the war; and of the 
Christian spirit, which sustained her amid ad- 
versities that contrasted sadly with the enjoy- 
ments in her early years, under the roof of a 
prosperous and indulgent father. 

In the spring of 1765, Reed returned to Amer- 
ica, and, resuming his residence at Trenton, en- 
tered upon the practice of the law in the New 
Jersey courts. With strong impulses to exer- 
tion in his profession, he soon found another in- 
ducement, of a painful kind, in the embarrassed 
condition of the affairs of his family. His fa- 
ther had become involved in commercial mis- 



JOSEPH REED. 5S529 

fortunes, against which he was too old to strug- 
gle, and thus the family was made dependent on 
the son, the energies of whose character appear 
to have risen under the responsibilities, which un- 
expectedly were accumulating upon him. His 
talents and professional knowledge, combined 
with fine personal qualities for an advocate, soon 
introduced him to general practice, and to rank 
with the first lawyers in the province. 

The connection, which Reed had formed in 
England, was the occasion of various plans to 
enable him to %ettle in that country. The ap- 
pointment of special agent for the province of 
Massachusetts having been conferred on Mr. De 
Berdt, whose advanced age rendered it desirable 
that he should have assistance, especially if it 
could be combined with personal acquaintance 
with colonial interest and feeling, he communi- 
cated to Mr. Reed his intention to invite him to 
London, as soon as the agency should be put 
on a more permanent footing. The exasperated 
feeling that had arisen in the province between 
the Governor and the Assembly, together with 
the generally unsettled condition of colonial af- 
fairs, prevented any arrangement respecting the 
agency. In 1767, Mr. Reed received his first 
appointment of a political kind, being then ap- 
pointed Deputy Secretary for the province of 



230 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

New Jersey, an office which did not interfere 
with his professional engagements. 

After an interval of about four years, he began 
to arrange for a second visit to England. He 
thought it important, in consideration of Mr. De 
Berdt's official connection with Massachusetts, 
to make himself personally acquainted with the 
affairs of that colony, and with its leading men. 
With this view, before sailing for England, he 
set out, in the summer of 1769, in company with 
Mr. John Dickinson, for Boston. He spent about 
two months there, at the time wlftn popular feel- 
ing had been irritated by the publication of 
Governor Bernard's letters. This visit introduced 
Mr. Reed to the most active men of the day 
on the side of colonial rights, and was thus of 
importance as contributing to that familiar and 
confidential intimacy among public men in the 
several colonies, which soon after became an ele- 
ment of colonial combination and resistance. 

In March, 1770, Mr. Reed embarked at Phil- 
adelphia for England, and, having landed in Ire- 
land, the first piece of news that caught his eye, 
on taking up a London Gazette, was the death 
of his kind and excellent friend, Mr. De Berdt. 
In addition to this, on reaching London, he found 
that, in consequence of the mismanagement of 
one of the partners, Mr. De Berdt's commercial 



JOSEPH REKD. 831 

house was nearly bankrupt. In his own father's 
household, Reed had already witnessed pecuni- 
ary perple;icities and distress, and in his early 
manhood he had stoutly and hopefully struggled 
against them. When, after several years of as- 
siduous and successful labor, he revisited Eng- 
land, with the prospect of a well earned happi- 
ness, he found his best friend in that country 
no longer living, and the family he t^ad become 
attached to reduced from their long enjoyed and 
well used prosperity. In the very season of pe- 
cuniary misfortune, they lost the protection and 
counsel they had been in the habit of depend- 
ing on, during Mr. De Berdt's long and exem- 
plary life. 

So far as Mr. Reed's course of life was shaped 
by these occurrences, all inducement to seek a 
residence in England, with a view to a profes- 
sional career there, was at an end, and the influ- 
ence which for a time had given such a direction 
to his thoughts having ceased, the land of his 
birth was at once and for ever looked to as the 
determined land of his dwelling. He remained 
in England some months, to assist in closing the 
affairs of Mr. De Berdt's firm, which was found to 
be irretrievably bankrupt. In May, 1770, in St. 
Luke's Church, in the city of London, Joseph 
Reed was married to Esther De Berdt. Imme- 
diately on his return to America, in the same 



AMERICAN BIOGBAPHY. 

year, he removed from Trenton to Philadelphia, 
and, entering upon the practice of the law in 
Pennsylvania, soon had distinguished success in 
that province. From this time his career is that 
of a Pennsylvanian. 



CHAPTER IL 



Mr. Reed's Correspondence vnth the Earl of Dart" 
mouth. — Arrival of the Tea Ship. — Post- 
Office. — Courts of Admiralty. — Dr. FrankUn 
and Wedderbum, — Boston Port Bill. — Popur 
lar Meetings in Philadelphia, — Pennsylvania 
Party Politics. — Provincial Convention. — 
Continental Congress. — Reeds first Acquaint" 
ance with Washington. 

Before Mr. Reed's removal to Philadelphia, 
there was little opportunity for him to participate 
actively in the excitement, which was gradually 
increasing in the larger commercial towns during 
the preparatory years of the revolution. Being 
yet a young man, he had sought rather to make 
himself thoroughly accquainted with the princi- 
ples of the colonial cause, and carefully to ob- 
serve, botli at home and during his residence as 



J08C-PH ECCD. 

a student in England, the progress of the con- 
troversy and the poUcy of the ministry. A tem- 
perament naturally ardent, and a deep conviction 
of the constitutional rights of the colonists, so(m 
brought him, after his removal into Pennsylvania, 
into strong and active sympathy with popular 
resentment against the parliamentary measures. 
The acquaintance he had formed, while in Lon- 
don, with friends of the colonial cause, enabled 
him to cultivate a correspondence which furnish- 
ed intelligence of the ministerial and parliament- 
ary movements, and gave in return information 
as to the state of feeling in America. He be- 
came also, at this time, engaged in a correspond- 
ence of a peculiar and highly interesting nature, 
direct communication with one of the British 
ministry being opened to him under the following 
circumstances. 

It was in 1772, that, on the resignation of Lord 
Hillsborough, the Earl of Dartmouth was ap- 
pointed Secretary of State for the colonies. To 
this nobleman's influence, and administration of 
the colonial department, the friends of America 
looked forward, not without solicitude, but stiU 
with encouragement. Having been one of the 
Lords of Trade during the Rockingham adminis- 
tration, he had withdrawn on the retirement of 
that ministry, and, by acting in opposition to 
their successors, he was oatuially regarded as a 



234 AMERICAN BIOOBAPHT. 

friend to liberal measures and to the colonial right 
of exemption from parliamentary taxation. Lord 
Dartmouth's appointment gave therefore much 
satisfaction in America, and also to the friends 
of the colonial cause in England, it being hailed 
as an indication of the adoption of a more con- 
ciliatory policy. He was a man, too, of estima- 
ble private character, with a higher tone of re- 
ligious principles than at that time generally 
prevailed in English society, and for which, as 
might be expected, he is occasionally the subject 
of a sneer in Horace Walpole's letters. 

The agreeable anticipations of happy results 
from Lord Dartmouth's influence in the ministry 
were indulged in by Mr. Reed's connections in 
England. Between his father-in-law, the late Mr. 
De Berdt, and Lord Dartmouth, there appears 
to have subsisted a confidential intercourse on the 
subject of American aflairs. After the death 
of Mr. De Berdt, his son, also a London mer- 
chant, continued the intercourse, and entertained 
the hope, that if trustworthy sources' of informa- 
tion could be opened respecting the actual condi- 
tion and temper of the colonies, the new minister . 
might be induced to acknowledge the justice, or 
at least the expediency, of conciliatory measures. 
Being solicitous for a restoration of harmony be- 
tween the mother country and colonies, Mr. De 
Berdt conferred with Lord Dartmouth on the sub- 



JOSEPH BCCD. 235 

ject of an unofficial communication of colonial in- 
telligence ; and finding that it would be accepta- 
ble, he informed his relative, Mr. Reed, of the fiEict, 
and urged him to avail himself of so favorable an 
opportunity of reaching the ministry with a more 
faithful expression of colonial feeling, and a better 
report of the state of afiairs, than was likely to be 
communicated through the usual channels of offi- 
cial correspondence. While Reed sympathized 
with the desire for reconciliation, he was stead- 
fast in his conviction of the justice of the colonial 
discontent, and it was therefore not without diffi- 
dence, that he acceded to the proposal. He had 
already felt the importance of some effort to coun- 
teract, if possible, the mischief produced by the re- 
liance the ministry placed upon mistaken informa- 
tion and injudicious counsel, communicated from 
America by official agents of the government. 

Writing to De Berdt on the subject of the com- 
mercial restrictions, Mr. Reed had said, " Lord 
Dartmouth might make himself exceedingly 
popular in America by removing these restric- 
tions. I have often had thoughts of making his 
Lordship a tender of my services, in pointing out 
some things which would be of material advantage 
to both countries, and tend to make his adminis- 
tration honorable and useful. But the difficulty 
of introducing it in a proper manner, and free 
from any suspicion of interested views, has hither- 



5136 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

to prevented it. The intelligence from this coun- 
try has generally flowed through such corrupt 
channels, as would Expose any minister to danger 
and difficulty. I think I could procure his Lord- 
ship one or two correspondents in other prov- 
inces, who would, if it was agreeable, render him 
any services in that way, and who have nothing 
to ask from him but his cheerful acceptance of 
their honest and disinterested endeavors to serve 
both the mother country and the colonies." 

The series of letters which were addressed by 
Mr. Reed to Lord Dartmouth form a correspond- 
ence in many respects valuable. It was carefully 
conducted, in order to put the ministry infor- 
mally, through the colonial secretary, in posses- 
sion of such knowledge as would give a better 
direction to their policy ; and it has all the vivid 
freshness, not only of a contemporary narrative, 
but of the expression of one who was actively 
participating in the colonial measures and feel- 
ings which he describes. Reed's connections in 
Pennsylvania and the neighboring provinces, and 
the acquaintances he had formed in Boston, 
were such as to give him the best means of 
information. The difficulties in carrying on a 
correspondence of so delicate a nature were 
manifestly far from inconsiderable. It required 
very accurate observation of the course of events, 
wad well formed judgment upon them, together 



JOSEPH REED. 9S7 

with a just sense of what was due respectively to 
the cause and to the correspondent. There was 
the restraint of conventional deference from a 
colonial subject in private Ufe to one high in rank, 
and in official station nearly connected with the 
throne ; and more strongly the natural deference 
from a comparatively young man, inexperienced 
in political affairs, to a statesman of considerable 
parliamentary and ministerial experience. 

On the other hand, there was the impulse of 
an enthusiastic temperament to give utterance to 
earnest remonstrance, and to interpose, in so fit 
opportunity of interposition, against the mischief 
of dangerous counsel and false intelligence. The 
scope of this memoir does not admit of the in- 
troduction here of the correspondence with Lord 
Dartmouth, valuable as it would be as a contribu- 
tion to the history of the American revolution. 
It must be reserved for a more extended biogra- 
phy of his public services, now in preparation ; 
and, in this place, some selections from the letters 
will serve to show with what ability a correspond- 
ence was conducted, in which it was difficult to. 
avoid a conffict between fidelity to his country 
and respect for his correspondent. It must be. 
borne in mind, that the letters began at a timd'. 
when independence presented itself to even the: 
most far reaching mind of the colonist, only 
dimly in the distance of a perplexed and per- 



S38 AMKmiCAK BlOSmAPHT 



laps diflMtioiis fotare. Pride was sliD feh in 
the sentiiiient of lojaltr, and all that was de- 
manded was reoondliatioOy the abandonment of 
norel oppression, and the restoration cS the state 
of things in 1763. Profesaons of amity, some 
sincere and some hollow, were interchangii^ 
across the Atlantic; and when the colonist in 
Philadelphia was encouraged to address one of 
the constitutional advisers of the King with the 
frankness of familiar correspondence, he was en- 
titled to assume that there was sympathy between 
them, for Lord Dartmouth's public career and 
private worth had caused him to be r^arded as 
one of the friends of colonial America. 

The first letter to Lord Dartmouth is dated 
the 22d of December, 1773. With somewhat of 
professional precision, Mr. Reed lays the ground- 
work of his correspondence in a careful state- 
ment of the case of the colonies, the cause of 
the discontent, and the reasoning »on which it was 
sustained. He then describes the state of feeling 
in the colonies, and the condition of trade since 
the passage of the obnoxious revenue acts ; and, 
as the letter was written when there was a daily 
expectation of the arrival of the tea ships, with 
the cargoes shipped by the East India Company^ 
he informs the Secretary, in calm and explicit 
terms, of the course of action determined on. 



JOSEPH REED. 

and of the failure that may be expected of that 
enterpiis^or securing the payment of the impost 
duty on tea. When the intelligence of the in- 
tended shipments was received, 

"The merchants/' writes Mr. Reed, "as might 
be expected, first expressed their uneasiness, but 
in a few days it became general. Some of the 
principal inhabitants and merchants called a gen- 
eral meeting of the people, when a number of 
resolutions were entered into, the • substance of 
which was, that this measure, tending to enforce 
the obnoxious act, should be opposed by all law- 
ful and proper methods. A number of persons 
were appointed to desire the consignees to re- 
linquish the consignment. At first they made 
some little hesitation ; but finding the opposition 
to their acceptance of the trust so strong and 
general, they all complied, and have publicly re- 
nounced the commission. Some inconsiderate 
persons endeavored to deter the pilots from taking 
any chaige t>f the ship in the river ; but this has 
been generally disapproved by the inhabitants, 
who have endeavored to counteract it. When 
the arrival of the ship was hourly expected, an- 
other meeting was held of the principal inhabit- 
ants only, when it was unanimously agreed to 
oppose the landing of the tea, and to compel 
the master of the ship to return with his cargo. 
The mode of executing this measure, as I am 



S40 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

well informed, will be, that, on the first intelli- 
gence of her arrival, a number of persora, already 
appointed to that service, will go on board and 
represent to the captain the determination of the 
inhabitants on the subject, and the dangers and 
difficulties which may attend a refusal on his 
part. This, with the advice of the consignees, 
will, it is supposed, have the effect intended. If 
it should not, the consequences may prove fatal 
to himself and his vessel.* The opposition to the 
Stamp Act was not so general, and I cannot but 
think any attempt to crush it would be attend- 
ed with dreadful effects." 

A few words of hope, at the close of the letter, 
convey such intimations of warning and advice 
as it seemed proper to give in the very beginning 
of the correspondence. "I cannot pretend to 
suggest expedients to your Lordship's wisdom 
and prudence; some proper ones will, I doubt 
not, occur. Severity has been tried. If it can 
be thought consistent with the supremacy and 
dignity of the mother country to relax, and adopt 
lenient measures on this occasion, it would crown 
your Lordship's administration with unfading 
honor to be the instrument of removing the re- 
maining source of civil discord." 

It was within three days after this letter was 
written, that the tea ship arrived in the Dela- 
ware Bay ; and on the very day which completed, 



JOSEPH REED. 241 

wito entire success, the course of action previ- 
ously determined on, Reed again writes to Lord 
Dartmouth ; and the following passage in the 
letter gives, with all the freshness of the hour, 
a simple narrative of what occurred. 

"On Saturday, the 25th instant, (December, 
1773,) the first certain account was received in 
this city that the tea ship was safely arrived in 
our river, but without any pilot, for,- notwith- 
standing the endeavors of many of the inhabit- 
ants, such a general aversion and opposition to 
this measure of sending out the tea prevailed, 
that no person would afford the captain the least 
assistance in bringing his ship into the port. Last 
evening she anchored about three miles below 
the town, when a number of the inhabitants as- 
sembled, and sending for Captain Ayres, the 
master of the ship, acquainted him that it was 
most advisable for him not to proceed to the 
town, in the present temper of the inhabitants, 
with his ship, but to come up and inform him- 
self of the situation of things in the city. He 
accordingly came up, and, after conversing with 
the consignees of the cargo and other inhabit- 
ants, signified his willingness to comply with the 
sense of the city on this occasion. Accordingly, 
this morning there was a general meeting of the 
inhabitants, to the amount of several thousands, 
and among them a great number of the most con- 

YOL. YIII. 16 



242 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

siderable both in rank and property, when the 
enclosed resolutions were proposed and agreed 
to without hesitation. The vessel was immedi- 
ately supplied with ' all necessaries, and in less 
than two hours set out on her return, and is the 
bearer of this letter." 

After warning the Secretary, that the opposi- 
tion to the landing of the cargoes of tea had been 
conducted by some of the principal inhabitants, 
and with the encouragement of well nigh all, an4 
that the same feeling prevailed in the other cities. 
Reed proceeds in a strain of still deeper earn- 
estness. 

" Any further attempt to enforce this act, I 
am humbly of opinion, must end in blood. We 
are sensible of our inability to contend with the 
mother country by force, but we are hastening 
fast to desperate resolutions, and, unless internal 
peace is speedily settled, our most wise and sen- 
sible citizens dread the anarchy and confusioa 
that must ensue. This city has been distinguish- 
ed for peaceable and regular demeanor ; nor have 
its citizens departed from it on the present occa- 
sion, as there have been no mobs, no insults to 
individuals, no injury to private property ; but the 
frequent appeals to the people must in time oc- 
casion a change, and we every day perceive it 
to be more difficult to repress the rising spirit*' 
Having urged the necessity, for several reasons. 



JOSEPH REED. 243 

of a total repeal of the levenue acts, he adds, in 
conclusion, '^ Your Lordship's goodness will, I 
hope, ejicuse my pleading for the country I love. 
But as, on the one hand, I will not conceal or 
misrepresent, so, on the other, I would wish to 
avert the impending blow. If it can be done 
consistently with your Lordship's wisdom and 
judgment, we supplicate your indulgence and 
kindness at this critical period, when your rank 
and station may enable you to heal these un- 
happy breaches, and restore peace and union to 
these divided countries." * 

In those feverish years immediately previous 
to the war, a short period of comparative re- 
pose, covering a thoughtful solicitude as to the 
future, occurred after the destruction of the tea 
in the harbor of Boston, and the return of the 
consignments from other ports. What would be 
the policy of the government in consequence of 
these measures was still uncertain ; and, during 
this brief interval of doubt, Reed wrote to Lord 
Dartmouth, to direct his attention to certain 
abuses in the colonial administration. Much dis- 
satisfaction prevailed with reference to the post- 
office establishment, and still more the new ad- 
miralty courts, arising in the latter from the se- 
lection and conduct of the officers. 

"The first appointment," writes Mr. Reed, 
" was that of judges, who had made themselves 



244 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

obnoxious by their conduct at the time of the 
Stamp Act But the same, or rather more ab- 
surd conduct has been shown in the appointment 
of all the under officers. The principals live in 
England, and, I suppose, having an acquaintance 
with the commissioners at Boston, they have left 
to them the nomination of the deputies, so that 
in this city, when Mr. Ingersoll, the Judge, 
opened the court, every officer in it was some 
underling of the custom house. The register 
was the ganger and surveyor; the marshal one 
of th6 principal tide-waiters, &c. No measure 
could have been framed more ready to invite 
opposition and insure contempt. These officers 
being frequently interested in the causes depend- 
ing, partly for that reason, and partly on account 
of their incapacity, it often becomes necessary 
to get indifferent persons to do their duty. The 
due observance of the laws of trade is so essen- 
tial to the interests of the mother country, that 
nothing tending to weaken or enforce them is 
unworthy of notice. This must be my apology 
for these details, especially as the Judge has more 
than once lamented to me his unfortunate situ- 
ation in this respect." 

The first news from England, after the return 
of the tea ships, was of the examination of Dr. 
Franklin before the Privy Council on the publi- 
4»tion of Governor Hutchinson's letters, and the 



JOSEPH REED. 245 

fierce attack made on him by the Solicitor-Gen- 
eral, Mr. Wedderburn. This was calculated pe- 
culiarly to increase the irritability of popular feel- 
ing in Philadelphia ; and on the 3d of May, 1774, 
the effigies of Wedderburn and Hutchinson were 
carried through the streets, followed by a large 
concourse of people, and burned amid their accla- 
mations. On the next day, Mr. Reed writes to 
bis brother-in-law, in London, Mr. De Berdt, 

''Lord Dartmouth as yet stands high in the 
esteem, of the Americans; and however former 
ministers have affected to despise the good will of 
this country, it would have much contributed to 
their honor and ease, if they could have obtained 
or preserved it. I am extremely sorry to find, 
both by yours and other letters, that severe meas- 
ures are meditated in consequence of the de- 
struction and return of the tek. The scurrilous 
treatment of Dr. Franklin is highly resented by 
all ranks of people, and the report of the Coun- 
cil upon that affair is so strange, and repugnant 
to the sense of this country, that we are at a 
loss to conceive how so respectable a tribunal 
should have permitted such licentious freedoms 
with a man of Dr. Franklin's public character 
and age ; or how they could have such an opin- 
ion of the letters sent from Boston, as to regard 
them as having been written in the confidence 
of private friendship, and as containing nothing 



246 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

reprehensible. Nothing can exceed the vener- 
ation in which Dr. Franklin is now held, but 
the detestation we have of his enemies. I was 
grieved to see such a report pass unanimously, 
and Lord Dartmouth present.* 

'* We are here under no apprehension of any 
violence. We think the property of the English 
merchants in this country a sufficient security 
that no injury will be offered to our property, and 
as to our persons, the whole force of Great Brit- 
ain is not sufficient to apprehend them unless 
taken by surprise ; but it is my firm opinion, that 
those persons who would be marked out for 
such a sacrifice, so far from flying, would meet 
the danger, and if they did not rejoice on the 
occasion, would not repine at what they would 
esteem a glorious opportunity of sealing their 
country's liberties with their blood. The una- 
nimity, spirit, and resolution, expressed at this 
time, afford the fullest proof that dreadful con- 
sequences must ensue from any hostilities offered. 
No man with us dares mention receiving the tea, 
any more than repealing the act with you; and 
if another cargo should be sent, so far from 
acting with the same caution, it is my opinion 
that it would be immediately destroyed, unless 

* See a full account of these traDsactions in Sparks's 
lyanklifi, Vol. IV. pp. 441-455. 



JOSEPH REED. 247 

accompanied with such a force as might protect 
it in the landing ; but who would dare to sell or 
buy it?" 

In the same month in which this letter was 
written, the revolutionary movement received a 
new impulse from the intelligence of the passage 
of the Boston Port Bill. Mr. Reed's visit to 
Boston, several years before, and the acquaint-^ 
ance he had formed there with some of the lead- 
ing citizens, were now to subserve a valuable use 
as an element in that community of feeling and 
spirit of cooperation, which gave such strength to 
the cause. The circular addressed by the meet- 
ing held at Faneuil Hall to the several provincial 
legislatures was fortified by private correspond- 
ence, in which the appeal could be jnade with 
the more unreserved freedom of personal friend- 
ship. Letters were written to Reed by his Bos- 
ton friends, claiming his efforts in the cause of 
their common civil liberty. 

When the time arrived for united action in 
Philadelphia, the cause was not without serious 
difficulties. Pennsylvania had already for a long 
while been perplexed with its party politics, local 
contentions which proved embarrassing now that 
harmonious participation in the general cause was 
needed. A long continued series of disputes 
between the proprietors and the legislative branch 
of the colonial government had caused much 



248 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

party organization, with the usual asperity of 
feeling and obstinacy of opposition. The receipt 
of the Boston circular, and of the private letters 
that accompanied it, rendered the adoption of 
some decided measures necessary. The princi- 
pal persons with whom Reed acted, in arranging 
the public proceedings, were John Dickinson, 
whose reputation was already considerable by the 
authorship of "The Farmer's Letters," Thomas 
MiiSlin, afterwards General in the Continental 
army and Governor of Pennsylvania, and Charles 
Thomson, afterwards the faithful Secretary of the 
Congress of the revolution. 

The course determined on was to call a public 
meeting of the principal citizens at the City 
Tavern. This meeting took place on the 20th 
of May, 1774, and was composed of the most 
heterogeneous materials. There were the earnest 
and impetuous opponents of the ministerial meas- 
ures ; there were advocates of a more wary and 
cautious opposition ; the proprietary party had 
its representatives ; and members of the society 
of " Friends " were also present. Such were the 
incongruous and intractable materials that popu- 
lar eloquence had to work upon. The meeting 
was opened by the reading of the Boston letter, 
after which Reed addressed them at some length 
in a speech which has not been preserved, but 
which Charles Thomson, in a private letter, de- 



JOSEPH REED. 349 

scribes as distinguished for <' temper, moderation, 
and pathos." He was followed by Thomson 
and Mifflin, all having urged a prompt and strong 
declaration in favor of the people of Boston. 
Mr. Dickinson tlien spoke, recommending a more 
temperate expression of feeling, and a petition to 
the Governor for a meeting of the Assembly. A 
committee was appointed to answer the Boston 
circular, and Dickinson and Reed were placed 
on it. The answer is from the pen of the 
former. The committee also prepared a petition 
to Governor Penn, requesting him to convoke 
the Assembly, which, after being signed by near 
a thousand citizens, was presented, received, and 
the request promptly refused. 

In the beginning of June, 1774, the news 
arrived of the passage of the two acts of Par- 
liament, regulating the government and adminis- 
tration of justice in the province of Massachu- 
setts Bay ; and on the 18th of the month a town 
meeting was held in the State House yard, (the 
" Independence Square " of later days,) at which 
the speakers were the Reverend William Smith, 
the provost of the college, Joseph Reed, and 
Charles Thomson. The thoughts of men were 
turning, at this time, almost simultaneously 
throughout the different colonies, to that mode 
of action, which had not been resorted to since 
the Stamp Act Congress at New York, nine 



250 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

years before. The popular meeting in Philadel- 
phia recommended a Congress of deputies from 
all the colonies, and a committee was appointed 
to correspond not only with the other colonies, 
but with the several counties of Pennsylvania. 
Governor Penn*s refusal to convoke the Assem- 
bly, which was neither unexpected nor much 
regretted, gave to the patriotic party in Philadel- 
phia occasion to adopt the decided measure of 
assembling a more efficient and popular body in 
the form of a Provincial Convention, which soon 
met, although, in the mean time, the Governor, on 
a rumor of Indian hostilities, called the Assem- 
bly. The first act of the Convention was to 
prepare a statement of grievances in decided but 
respectful language, and full instructions to the 
members of the Assembly, which was to meet in 
a few days. Both documents are from the pen 
of Dickinson, the former being perhaps one of 
the ablest and most eloquent productions of his 
pen. A committee of correspondence was also 
appointed, consisting of Dickinson, Reed, and 
Thomson. 

The active part, which Reed took in this 
strenuous but as yet pacific opposition to British 
measures, did not interrupt his correspondence 
with Lord Dartmouth. He considered himself as 
having made an engagement to giv6 a faithful 
account of the transactions in America, and 



JOSEPH REED. 251 

especially in the province of Pennsylvania ; but he 
now writes as entertaining only a distant hope 
that any good will result from his communica- 
tions. He had previously warned the Secretary, 
that a perseverance on the part of the ministry 
and Parliament in the obnoxious measures would 
lead to a perfect and complete union, among the 
colonies, to oppose the parliamentary claim of 
taxation. In June, 1774, he writes to inform his 
Lordship that this prediction is about to have its 
fulfilment. 

" The severity," he says, " of the administra- 
tion, and the mode of condemnation, gains the 
Bostonians advocates, even among those who 
regard their conduct as criminal. This union or 
confederacy, which will probably be the greatest 
ever seen in this country, will be cemented and 
fixed in a General Congress of deputies from 
every province; and I am strongly inclined to 
believe that efforts will be made to perpetuate it 
by annual or triennial meetings, a thing entirely 
new. The business proi5osed for the Congress is 
to draw up what, upon a former occasion, or 
perhaps upon any other, would be called a bill 
of rights. I believe it will also be proposed, that 
a certain number of deputies go personally to 
Great Britain on this important errand. Should 
this application be treated with neglect, which, 
in my opinion, it will not deserve, a genei^ ^^\»^ 



252 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of all importation, perhaps of exportation, and 
generally non-intercourse, will be proposed, and I 
believe succeed, though nothing of that nature 
will take place here at present In the present 
distressing interval to the people of Boston, every 
measure will be devised and executed to relieve 
their necessities and support their spirits. For 
this purpose subscriptions are forming, in every 
jMu-t of America, to supply their poor with the 
necessaries of life. There has been some diver- 
sity of opinion in this place, as to the mode of 
showing our sympathy ; but your Lordship may 
rely upon it, that nine tenths of the inhabitants 
mean to show their sense of the conduct of the 
mother country by adopting every possible meas- 
ure for their relief; the most encouraging letters 
have been written to them to stand out, and by 
no means to make the submission required of 
them, and the honor of every writer is pledged to 
support them." 

This letter closes with the following explicit 
and emphatic sentence. ** Your Lordship may re- 
gard it as a fixed truth, that all the dreadful con- 
sequences of civil war will ensue before the 
Americans will submit to taxation by Parliament. 
I mention this, that your Lordship may not be 
deluded by the suggestions of designing men to 
expect this event, as nothing but force will ever 
iHwg it about." 



JOSEPH REED. ft5S 

Lord Dartmouth certainly could not complain, 
that in these letters there was any want of candor 
on the part of his correspondent. Reed dealt 
plainly with him, and wrote with respectful and 
^nuine frankness. He gave timely and unre- 
served forewarning of the evil consequences, that 
would follow a perseverance in the obnoxious 
measures, and still one unheeded forewarning 
after another was fulfilled. While the Secretary 
was receiving through this private correspondence 
information and counsel, the accuracy and justice 
of which were constantly sustained by the course 
of events, he was also supplied with the official 
correspondence from the colonies, . upon which, 
though far less trustworthy, he was more dis- 
posed, naturally perhaps, to place his confidence. 
While Mr. Reed was describing the depth and 
strength of a wide spread popular feeling, Gov- 
ernor Penn .was shutting his eyes to the demon- 
strations ; and, wrapping himself up in official dig- 
nity, he was, in his despatches to the government, 
extenuating the danger. A haughty tone, and 
an increase of executive force, seemed to be con- 
sidered the adequate and appropriate remedies. 

At the same time that Mr. Reed was repre- 
senting to Lord Dartmouth the indomitable 
temper of the Bostonians, under the special 
parliamentary coercion brought to bear' upon 
Massachusetts, and also the general and cordial 



254 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

sympathy with them that was at work in the 
other colonies, General Gage's letters were giving 
assurance that the people of Boston were un- 
steady in their resistance, and that they were 
held to it only by the tyrannical influence of a few 
demagogues. Instead of the unpalatable truths, 
which came from the private Philadelphia corre- 
spondent, it was doubtless far more agreeable to 
ministerial pride to receive Gage's confident as- 
sertion that the act, by which Massachusetts 
was to be specially controlled, must sooner or 
later work its own way ; that neither New York 
nor Philadelphia would agree to non-importation ; 
that a Congress of some sort or other might pos- 
sibly be obtained, but it was still at a distance ; 
and that, after all, Boston would get little more 
than fair words. 

After having continued the correspondence up 
to the time we are now speaking of, Reed began 
to entertain an increasing doubt upon two points, 
first, whether it was any longer acceptable to 
Lord Dartmouth, and secondly, whether any 
beneficial result was to be hoped from it. His 
doubts on the first were completely removed, 
while in the other respect they were much in- 
creased, by a long letter which he received from 
Lord Dartmouth in September, 1774. With this 
single exception, the correspondence was carried 
on entirely on one side. Lord Dartmouth, be- 



JOSEPH REED. 255 

sides thanking Mr. Reed for the information and 
advices he had communicated, acknowledges the 
very candid and ingenuous manner in which his 
sentiments had been stated, and,ias if impressed 
with the earnestness with which, in the letters, the 
colonial cause was upheld, and the influence 
which such a writer was likely to exert in allay- 
ing or increasing the discontent, he proceeds to 
explain at some length, and to vindicate, the policy 
of the ministry. 

There is an apparently sincere desire to re- 
move misapprehension, and there is no little pro- 
fession of what Lord Dartmouth had always the 
credit for, of friendly feeling to America, and a 
regard for the constitutional rights and liberties 
of the colonies. But it now became manifest, 
that such professions were accompanied with 
such opinions of the nature of the relation 
t^xisting between the colonies and the mother 
country, as to recognize no more of colonial right 
or freedom, than was compatible with the new 
ministerial policy. It was plain, that the Secre- 
tary could see no other opening to reconciliation, 
ifen in unconditional subserviency on the part of 
the colonies. However modified or explained, 
the power that was claimed over them was es- 
sentially an arbitrary one. It was no wonder, 
that, after receiving Lord Dartmouth's letter, Mr. 
Reed, writing to a kinsman in a neighboring 



356 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

province, exclaims, "I have a long letter of two 
sheets from Lord Dartmouth, with his political 
creed respecting America, bad enough, God 
Inows ! But if he thinks thus, what may we 
expect from Hillsborough and the rest!" The 
friendly tone of his noble correspondent, and a 
renewed expression of a desire of a continuance 
of the letters, appear not to have had the least 
effect in preventing him from perceiving, that, 
however plausible and possibly well intentioned 
Lord Dartmouth's professions as to colonial affairs 
might be, they were essentially unsatisfactory. 

The steady and now rapid advance of the 
colonial movement was, just at this time, much 
strengthened by the extended personal inter- 
course of the patriots, occasioned by the assem- 
bling of the Congress in Philadelphia, on the 5th 
of September, 1774. The leading men in the 
middle and eastern colonies had already become 
personally known to each other, but communica- 
tion with inhabitants of the southern provinces 
was as yet somewhat limited. The extent and 
force of colonial sympathy was not known, or at 
least was not strongly felt, until it was brought 
out by the living presence of men engaged in a 
common cause. How much of mutual encour- 
agement was in this way gained, is shown by the 
tone of almost hilarity in the excitement with 
which Reed, in a familiar letter, speaks of the 



JOSEPH REEB. 357 

first gathering of the members of the Congress 
of 1774. 

" We are so taken up with the Congress, that 
we hardly think or talk of any thing else. About 
fifty have come to town, and more are expected. 
They have not fixed upon the time of beginning 
busmess, but I suppose it will be some day this 
week. There are some fine fellows come from 
Virginia, but they are very high. We understand 
they are the capital men of the colony, both in 
fortune and understanding.'* 

Mr. Reed, though not a delegate to the Con- 
gress of 1774, appears to have been in frequent 
and familiar intercourse with the members in 
private society, and thus to have widely extended 
his knowledge of the state of popular opinion 
and feeling in the other colonies. To the valued 
friendships he enjoyed with several of the leading 
public men of the province of Massachusetts, there 
was now added an acquaintance, which after- 
wards was matured into a confidential and long 
cherished intimacy, and which had an important 
influence upon his course of life. The friendship 
with Washington had its beginning at this time, 
and it was to the influence of it, in a great meas- 
ure, that Reed's career was afterwards diverted 
from civil to military life. 

VOL. VIII. 17 



2S8 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



CHAPTER jn. 

Correspondence with Lord Dartmouth continued, 
— Josiah Quina/y Junior, — Philadelphia Couh 
ndttee. — Meeting of the Assembly. — Reed, 
President of the Provincial Convention. — 

. Close of the Dartmouth Correspondence. 

Until this time, Mr. Reed's letters to Lord 
Dartmouth, while they were decided upon the 
great question of colonial discontent, had been 
characterized by a tone of deference and forbear- 
ance, which was appropriate to the progress of 
the controversy, and natural as addressed to a cor- 
respondent whom he was entitled to regard as, 
to a considerable degree, in sympathy with his 
own opinions. The letter, which he received 
from the Secretary, made it manifest, however, 
that his kindly feeling towards the colonies had 
been fast diminishing, amid the angry temper 
which was predominant at court on the subject of 
American affairs. Mr. Reed found, somewhat 
to his surprise and disappointment, that Loid 
Dartmouth's principles of colonial administratioiii 
to which he, in common with many of his coun- 
trymen, had been looking with some confidence^ 
were at best delusive and unsettled. But tbe 
hope of any benefit to his country from a ooft 



J 



JOSKFH mKKD. 859 



of bis cone^nodenee, tboagh 
milj mm moA e&feeUed, was not whoDy lotCy 
and, besides, tbe peisooally frieodlj tone of Loid 
Dsrtmoiitb's letter seemed to forIM, as a matter 
of lespect and ooortesf oo Mr. Reed's part, a 
soddea and oneipiaiiied oessatioo of bis letlen 
at tbis tiaK. 

Hoareier onaitiiiKtorf tbe Secretary's letter 
was, it was a paimtaking eflbrt to exphin and 
as wefl as to jnsti^, tbe poGcf of die 
and as an effort to reoiofe tibe diflk al 
ties whkb hr oo Mr. Reed's mind, lespe c ti ag 
die intemioo of tbe administratioo and Farfia- 
.it was entitled to a co mieous acknowledge 
At tbe ame time, the tkme of tbe replf 
to tbat of one, wiM> felt bimaetf ad- 
oppootioo inrtead of sfmpatbj. The 
bas now tbe aawe iiimisiHinfd 
witb wbkfa wroogAd aophirtrf moat 
be rcpefled and a jiM caose qdield. Reed lost 
no tiBK in rephring to Lord nvtaaQwdi's letter^ 
and was tbas kd to wri&e in tbe midst of dbe 
imeieat exdted in Phaaddphia bf die first mftH- 
ing of GongicaHu There was abo an intensitf of 
lieefiDg (wxamnd bjr tbe coolant expectitiony 
tbat eadb ptost tbat anited from die eastward 
migfat briae iandfeoace of die first Uood fbed 
in tbe coloii^ caan^^ General Gage^s 
nttUaoiwlMKthearfMCtof 




260 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

and suspense. Reed, in a letter of the 25th of 
September, 1774, again warns the Secretary that 
for ten years past the government had been suf- 
fering itself to be misguided in its measures by 
the advices of ignorant or interested men, and 
that it would be as fair to judge of his Majesty 
from the publications of Junius, as of the colonies, 
from such representations as the ministry had 
been in the habit of placing theur reliance upon. 

" No king," he goes on to say, " ever had 
more loyal subjects, nor any country more affec- 
tionate colonists, than the Americans were. I, 
who am but a young man, well remember when 
• the former was always mentioned with a respect 
approaching to adoration, and to be an English- 
man was alone a sufficient recommendation for 
any office of friendship and civility. But I con- 
fess, with the greatest concern, that those happy 
days are passing swiftly away ; and, unless some 
plan of accommodation can be speedily formed, 
the affection of the colonists will be irrecoverably 
lost. 

" Your Lordship is pleased to say, that * gov- 
ernment has no intention to enslave the people 
of America, but to allow them all the freedom 
consistent with their connection with the parent 
state.' If we are to be thus free, should it not 
have been distinguished in what instance our 
freedom is inconsistent with the character of our 



JOSEPH REED. S61 

connection, that, as reasonable beings, we might 
be convinced of the reasonableness and propri- 
ety of being less free than our brethren land- 
holders in Britain ? In my poor judgment, the 
declaratory law, and tlie acts passed respecting 
Boston, which are streams from the same foun- 
tain, degrade us from the rank of freemen ; the 
former, indeed, does not agree with your Lord- 
ship's ideas of American liberty, which you think 
should be only partially restrained ; whereas, this 
law is a general restraint enacted by a power 
wholly independent of us, and binding us in all 
cases whatsoever. A gentle tyranny is no more 
compatible with the rights of an English subject , 
than a violent one ; and, if the colonies were 
willing to submit to such a rule, I do not see 
what security can be given, as history strongly 
testifies, that free states can be as despotic and 
oppressive over their colonies as the most arbi- 
trary ones. 

" Your Lordship observes, that it is not ma- 
terial whether the British legislature have a right 
to lay the duty; it is sufficient they have done 
it, to make resistance criminal and punishment 
proper. Surely, my Lord, power should not 
usurp the place of right. If America is never 
to resist, let the measures of Parliament be ever 
so wrong and unjust, it implies the most abject 



908 AMERICAS BIOORAPHT. 

and absolute 'SubmisaioDy and b hardly consistent 
with the idea of our being as free as our rela- 
tions to Great Britain will admit; for I do not 
suppose your Lordship means, that our situation 
will exclude us from all the essential blessings 
of Uberty. There can no more be a divine right 
of doing wrong in Parliament, than in the King ; 
and all the principles of the Revolution show, 
that there are not a few cases in which resist- 
ance is justifiable. I confess I think there is a 
clear distinction between supreme and absolute 
power, even as to Great Britain, much more as 
to the colonies ; and, as there seems to be a ne- 
cessity for a supremacy in Parliament, independ- 
ent of actual representation, I submit it to your 
Lordship whether this supremacy might not be 
expressly defined, and its operation restricted 
within some certain limits, so as to leave no 
room for future disputes." 

After giving a short account of the Congress, 
which was still in session, and of both the una- 
nimity of sentiment which was understood to pre- 
vail in its deliberations, which were in secret 
session, and of the readiness of the people to 
adopt any measure, even war itself, if recom- 
mended by Congress, Reed went on to describe 
a state of things in America, which it is surpris- 
ing how any statesman of the scantiest sagacity 



JOSEPH Ria^. fi6S 

ecmld disregard, and the reality of which could 
not be mistaken in the earnest and truthful sim- 
plicity of the description. 

^^ I can iiardly think that I am in the same 
place, and among the same people, so great is 
the alteration of sentiment. As far as I can 
judge, should the merchants hesitate to comply 
with any suspension of trade the Congress direct, 
the people of the country will compel them, and 
I know no power capable to protect them. A 
few days ago, we were alarmed with a report 
that General Gage had cannonaded the town of 
Boston. So general a resentment, amounting 
even to fury, appeared everywhere, that I firmly 
believe, if it had not been contradicted, thou- 
sands would have gone, at their own expense, 
to have joined in revenge. It was difficult to 
make them doubt the intelligence, or delay set- 
ting out. 

" Those who served during the last war in the 
provincial troops, others discharged from the reg- 
ulars, and many who have seen service in Ger- 
many, and migrated to this country, with such 
others as would have •joined them, would have 
formed a considerable body. I believe, had the 
news proved true, an army of forty thousand 
men, well provided with everything except can- 
non, would, before this, have been on its march 
to Boston. From these appearances, and tJbA 



AMERICAN BIOG&APHT. 

decided language of all ranks of people, I am 
convinced that, if blood be once shed, we shall 
be involved in all the horrors of a civil war. 
Unacquainted, either from history or experience, 
with the calamities incident to such a state, with 
minds full of resentment at the severity of the 
mother country, and stung with the contempt 
with which their petitions have always been re- 
jected, the Americans are determined to risk all 
the consequences. 

" The resolve of Congress on the resolutions 
of the county of Suffolk, in which there was not 
only unanimity of provinces, but of individual 
members, is to me truly astonishing, and mani- 
fests a spirit, leading to desperation, in my opin- 
ion worthy the anxious consideration of your 
Lordship, and every other friend of mankind. 
Unless some healing measures be speedily adopt- 
ed, the colonies will be wholly lost to England, 
or be preserved to her in such a manner as to 
be worse than useless for years to come. I am 
fully satisfied, my Lord, that America never can 
be governed by force ; so daring a spirit as ani- 
mates her can only be subdued by a greater force 
than Great Britain can spare; and one contin- 
ued conflict will ensue, till depopulation and de- 
struction follow your victories, or the colonies 
establish themselves in some sort of independ- 
ence. I cannot dissemble with your Lordship, 



JOSEPH REED. 

that it appears to me we are on the verge of a 
dvil war, not to be equalled in history for its im- 
portance and fatal consequences. If the Ameri- 
cans had less ground for apprehension and com- 
plaint,- it would be in vain to reason with men 
breathing bold defiance, and determined not to 
survive what they esteem the Uberties of their 
country." 

The ardor of Reed's spirit found utterance in 
such unreserved and vehement remonstrance, in 
which, while plain and painful truth was poured 
into the ministerial ear, there was no violation of 
the propriety of language, which was incumbent 
upon him in conducting such a correspondence. 
This letter, from which a large quotation has 
been made, because it is eminently characteristic 
of the writer, was written, as we should observe, 
at a period when independence was far from be- 
ing a familiar wish or thought in the minds of 
men, still less a familiar word upon their lips ; a 
year before the Continental army was raised, and 
almost two years before independence was de- 
clared. Coming from a man comparatively young, 
and positively inexperienced in affairs of govern- 
ment, it shows how highly cultivated were his 
powers of thoughtful observation, and with how 
keen a vision he was able to pierce the future, 
that was hanging cloudy over the course of po- 
litical events in the British empire. A letter^ ia 



866 AMEBICAH BIOGRAPHY. 

which he had given full scope to his feelings 
and opinions, was fitly closed with these words. 
^< Should any freedom of sentiment or expression 
occur to you in my letters, I hope you will r&* 
member that I am advocating the cause of the 
country which gave me being. I cannot see the 
threatening ruin without an effort to arrest it; 
and, if I know my own heart, its intentions are 
honestly to state my conscientious opinions to 
you, that your benevolence and public virtue may 
be exerted to avert the dreadful calamity of a 
civil war." 

Writing at the same time to his English broth- 
er-in-law, Mr. De Berdt, he expressed himself, in 
such familiar correspondence, with no greater 
freedom than he had indulged in addressing the 
minister. " We are indeed," he writes, on the 
26th of September, 1774, "on the melancholy 
verge of a civil war. United as one man, and 
breathing a spirit of the most animating kind, 
the colonies are resolved to risk the consequences 
of opposition to the late edicts of Parliament. 
All ranks of people, from the highest to the low- 
est, speak the same language, and I believe will 
act the same part. I know of no power in this 
country, that can protect an opposer of the pub- 
lic voice and conduct. A spirit and resolution 
is manifested, which would not have disgraced 
the Romans in their best days. I hope they will 



J08BPH mSBD. 967 

miiigle with them prudence and temperance^ m> 
as to avoid calamities as long as possible. No 
man dares open his mouth against non-importa- 
tion. Now the Congress has recommended it, 
it will not stop here ; non-exportation, to Eng- 
land, Ireland, and the West Indies, and, if neces- 
sary, non-consumption of EngUsh fabrics, will be 
the bloodless and defensive war of the colonies, 
so long as hostilities are forborne by the admin- 
istration ; but when they commence, (if unhap- 
pily they should,) terrible consequences are to be 
apprehended. God only knows what will be the 
event of all these things. If Parliament will 
repeal the tea duty, and put Boston in its for- 
mer station, all will be well, and the tea will be 
paid for. Nothing else will save this country 
and Britain too. My head and heart are both 
fuU." 

Mr. Reed's correspondence with Lord Dart- 
mouth was now, from the irresistible course of 
public events, drawing towards a close. When 
he next wrote, which was after the adjournment 
of the Congress of 1774, and the delegates Rad 
returned to their homes, it was to give assurance 
that the spirit and temper of the people continued 
as during the animation caused by the meeting. 
He was anxious to impress the Secretary with 
a knowledge of the unanimity, with which Con- 
gress denied the authority of Parliament to im 



S68 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

pose taxes of any kind, or to alter the internal 
government of the colonies, and that the mem- 
bers parted with the utmost affection and kind 
feeling to each other, carrying to their homes 
a determination to see every resolution faithfully 
executed. 

"The Americans," he proceeded to say, "are 
determined never to submit to the claims of Par- 
liament, unless compelled by irresistible force; 
and this submission will continue no longer than 
the force which produces it. However visionary 
it may appear, at first view, to give up the com- 
merce of the whole country, and, as a last resort, 
try their strength in arms with a nation so po- 
tent as Great Britain, you may depend on it, they 
will attempt both. Preparations are making, by 
military associations in every part of the coun- 
try, for the last appeal ; and everything indicates 
a fixed determination to yield to nothing but 
necessity. The universal claim is, to be restored 
to the state in which we were in 1763, though 
a line thus drawn would include some of the 
\Byfh to which we are now opposed." 

This letter closed with a piece of information, 
which must have been somewhat startling to the 
ministerial ear, from its singularity. "The Con- 
gress has inculcated, in the strongest terms, on 
the delegates from Boston to restrain the peo- 
ple of that province from any hostilities upon 



JOSEPH REED. 5269 

General Gage, and to wait patiently the effect 
their measures will produce, so that, unless the 
General act offensively, we may hope no blood 
will be shed, at least for a time." This was 
written manifestly with unaffected simplicity, and 
with no purpose of disrespect; and yet what can 
be more remarkable and significant of the state 
of the controversy than this fact, that one of the 
constitutional advisers of the crown should be 
thus informed, that the King's troops owed their 
safety to the protecting interposition of a Con- 
gress, whose very existence was looked on as an 
act of imperfect rebellion ? It is difficult to pass 
over a circumstance so mortifying to the pride 
of the power of the monarchy, without a reflec- 
tion on the degeneracy of an administration, 
which, within the short space of some fifteen 
years, was presenting so great a contrast to the 
glories of the Pitt ministry.* 

* An old friend of Mr. Reed's, and one of his class- 
mates at Princeton College, Stephen Sayre, was at this 
time, by a singular turn of fortune, one of the sherifis of 
the city of London. It appears from the " Chatham CoT' 
respondtnce^ that he was in frequent correspondence and 
intercourse with the retired minister, chiefly on the sub- 
ject of American affairs. In December, 1774, Lord Chat- 
ham writes to Mr. Sayre, " Soon after I had the pleasure 
of seeing you, I received the extracts from the votes and 
proceedings of the American Congress, printed and pub- 
lished by order at Philadelphia, which had beea ^Vd^Vli 



970 AMEBICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

. From a correspondence in which there was 
go much of expostulation, and remonstrance, and 
contrariety of feeling, as in that with Lord Dart- 
mouth, it is pleasing to turn for a moment to 
letters of sympathy, such as was growing daily 
stronger between the leading public men in the 
different colonies. To judge well of the char- 
acter of the men of that period, we must look 
into the familiarity of their private correspond- 
ence, to see the motives that were actuating them, 
and the purity and depth of feelings which was 
stirring in their hearts. Between Joseph Reed 
and Josiah Quincy, Junior, there had arisen an 
intimacy, which was strengthened by the visit 
of the former to Boston, and of the latter to 

from me, as the letters to others had been. I have not 
words to express my satisfaction, that the Congress has 
conducted this most arduous and delicate business with 
such manly wisdom and cahn resolution, as do the high- 
est honor to their deliberations. Very few are the things 
contained in these resolves, that I could wish had been 
otiherwise. Upon the whole, I think it must be evident to 
eveiy unprejudiced man in England, who feels for the rights 
of mankind, that America, under all her oppressions and 
provocations, holds forth to us the most fair and just open- 
ing for restoring harmony and affectionate intercourse as 
heretofore. I trust that the minds of men are more than 
beginning to change on this great subject, so little under- 
stood, and that it will be found impossible for freemen in 
England to wish to see three millions of Englishmen slaves 
in Annefica." 



JOSEPH BEED. S71 

Philadelphia. They were attached to each other 
by the sympathy of the enthusiasm of their dis- 
positions, and by the lofty and well cultivated 
love of constitutional liberty, which was common 
to them. In the letters that passed between 
them, there is the deep and impressive earnest- 
ness of men animated by the spirit of a great 
cause, and conscious of singleness and integrity 
of purpose. To the level of selfish or secondary 
motives the cause they had at heart is not suf- 
fered to sink; and amidst the gloomiest uncer- 
tainties which perplexed them, they found hope 
and moral strength in the consciousness that they 
were contending, at whatever self-sacrifice, for 
a great principle. 

Mr. Quincy went to England in 1774, and 
in October, Mr. Reed writes to him, ^< Instead 
of divided councils and feeble measures, all now 
is union and firmness; and I trust we shall ex- 
hibit such a proof of public virtue and enlight- 
ened zeal, in the most glorious of all causes, as 
will hand down the present age with the most 
illustrious characters of antiquity." After giving 
some matters of intelligence, he ends the letter 
by saying, "I congratulate you, my dear Sir, 
upon the rising glory of America. Our opera- 
tions have been almost too slow for the accumu- 
lated suflerings of Boston. Should this blood- 
less war &il of its effect, a great majority of thA 



272 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

colonies will make the last appeal, before they 
resign their liberties into the hands of any min- 
isterial tyrant." 

It was in answer to another letter from Reed, 
that Quincy made that emphatic declaration, 
which showed with what deep solemnity he 
meditated upon the approaching struggle, and 
which, being written only a short time before his 
death, has the impressiveness of a dying man's 
voice. " I look to my countrymen with the feel- 
ings of one, who verily believes they must yet 
seal their faith and constancy with their blood. 
This is a distressing witness indeed. But hath not 
this ever been the lot of humanity ? Have not • 
blood and treasure, in all ages, been the price of 
civil liberty ? Can Americans hope a reversal of 
the laws of our nature, and that the best of 
blessings will be obtained and secured without the 
sharpest trials? Adieu, my friend. My heart 
is with you ; and, whenever my countrymen com- 
mand, my person shall be also." 

With this solemn farewell, the intercourse of 
these friends ended ; for Quincy, on his voyage 
home, died at sea, at a short distance from his 
native shore, and a few days after its soil was 
first stained with blood at Lexington. 

On the adjournment of the Congress, in Octo- 
ber, 1774, a public entertainment was given to 
the delegates by more than five hundred of the 



JOSEPH REED. 273 

citizens of Philadelphia ; and it was manifest that 
the union of the colonies was greatly strength- 
ened by the ties not only of public interest, 
but of private friendship. Independence, let it 
be borne in mind, was still not yet the object 
aimed at. Redress of grievances and repeal of 
the obnoxious statutes were to be accomplished, 
if possible, by means compatible with colonial 
allegiance. Congress had resolved on the pa- 
cific remedy of non-importation ; and, having 
pledged themselves and their constituency to ad- 
here to it, it became the best patriotism to carry 
that policy faithfully and strictly into execution, 
and to forbear from everything that was like- 
ly to precipitate actual hostilities. If blood was 
to be shed, it was to be in defence against 
aggression. 

To carry into effect the measures determined 
on by Congress, a committee of sixty persons 
was elected in Philadelphia, in November, 1774. 
Reed was a member of it, together with Dickin- 
son, Thomson, Mifflin, Clymer, and other influ- 
ential citizens. The committee proceeded with 
great energy to the discharge of its duties, in 
which the state of public feeling prevented any 
diflJculty in accomplishing what was resolved on. 
After the 1st of December, every cargo that ar- 
rived from England, Ireland, or the Plantations, 
was delivered to the committee ; and " %o ^^»X. 

VOL. VIII. 18 



274 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

is the unanimity/' says Reed, in one of his let- 
ters, ''that no one has refused compliance with 
this self-denying ordinance. How long this spirit 
will continue, it is difficult to determine ; but, 
from the calmness i^nd deliberation with which 
everything is done, the measures now taken seem 
better calculated for duration than anything of 
the kind that we have attempted before." 

When the Assembly of the province met, res- 
olutions were passed, to the great surprise of 
Governor Penn, approving the transactions of the 
Congress, and delegates were chosen for the 
Congress which was expected to meet in the fol- 
lowing month of May. An apprehension, how- 
ever, that the proprietary influence might still be 
exerted in the legislature, in such a way as to 
embarrass the popular movement, induced the 
general committee to arrange a plan of a Pro- 
vincial Convention, to be composed of members 
chosen in all the counties of Pennsylvania, the 
ostensible object being the encouragement of 
dopestic manufactures, as auxiliary to the non- 
importation resolutions of Congress. This meas- 
ure was determined on, not, however, without 
some doubts whether it might not interfere with 
the plan of continuing the Assembly in harmo- 
nious cooperation, if possible, with the legislatures 
of the other colonies. 

The Provincial Convention met on the 33d of 



JOSEPH REED. 275 

January, 1775, and Mr. Reed was elected presi- 
dent of it The session continued until the 28th 
of the month, when the Convention was dissolved, 
after having adopted resolutions expressive of 
their views. The deliberations had been chiefly 
confined to the encouragement of manufactures, 
and such cultivation of the soil as would best 
provide for the exigencies, which the non-impor- 
tation agreements might occasion. It was in- 
tended taking some steps towards arming and 
disciplining the province ; but so general a dis- 
inclination appeared, that the proposal was laid 
aside without discussion. Reed opposed it, both 
publicly and privately, as a measure, which at 
that time was uncalled for, and still more, for a 
reason which was conclusive against it, because 
it would have been in rash and unjustifiable con- 
flict with the course of action, which was pre- 
scribed by the Congress, to whose deliberate and 
united judgment the nation had confided the 
question of the mode of resistance. And now, 
when, in after ages, the character of the Amer- 
ican revolution is to be calmly judged of, it is 
not the least praise of the patriots of our heroic 
age, that their spirits were so wisely tempered, 
that war, civil war, w^as not precipitated by any 
undisciplined rashness or indiscretion of theirs, 
and that the guilt of the first shedding of blood 
did not rest upon them. 



276 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

It was shortly after the adjournment of the 
Provincial Convention, that Mr. Reed's corre- 
spondence with Lord Dartmouth ended. In the 
letter he had received from the Secretary, a con- 
tinuance of the correspondence was desired ; but, 
in consequence of the prominent part he was 
taking in the colonial resistance, he began to 
doubt whether his letters were likely to be wel- 
come any longer, and whether he was an accept- 
able correspondent to a member of the ministry. 
The inclination to continue his letters was, no 
doubt, declining too, with disappointment that 
Lord Dartmouth did not resign. The motive 
of delicacy is frankly stated in the first sen- 
tences of his letter of the 10th of February, 1775. 

" My Lord ; As I have never disguised my 
sentiments on the unhappy dispute between the 
mother country and the colonies, nor concealed 
my intention to act in accordance with them, I 
have been led to doubt whether your Lordship 
may not deem the honor you do me inconsist- 
ent with your public character, and consider your- 
self bound to enforce those measures, which the 
dignity of Great Britain may be thought to re- 
quire, but of which a far less favorable opinion 
is entertained here. If so, a word to Mr. De 
Berdt will be sufficient, and I will forbear to 
trouble your Lordship further." 

He felt it due, however, to himself and to the 



JOSEPH REED. 277 

cause, to set forth both the moderation and the 
firmness with which the resistance of the colo- 
nies was maintained, and thus to show that the 
temper of the Americans was neither a lawless 
nor a servile one. "My influence," he writes, 
*'has latterly been exercised not to widen the 
breach, but to dispose the minds of those around 
me to the adoption of such measures, as may be 
consistent with the true dignity and interest of 
the mother country, and the safety of this. I 
hope and believe I have been instrumental, in a 
degree, and within a short time, in guarding this 
city and province from acts, which had an irri- 
tating tendency; and, while I am thus employed, 
I trust I am acting the part of a good subject 
and citizen. On the other hand, I cannot ac- 
quiesce in the claim of Parliament to bind us 
in all cases, but esteem it my indispensable duty 
to oppose what, in my poor judgment, degrades 
me from the rank of a free citizen." 

The season had not yet passed for reconcilia- 
tion ; and, in the spirit which was manifested by 
the Congress of 1774 in their public addresses. 
Reed sought now to satisfy the Secretary that the 
colonists had riot lost all disposition for an ac- 
commodation of the controversy, and to suggest 
Bome of the means of restoring harmonious re- 
lations. 

" I am happy/' he says, " in obaeiVvivg, ^xA 



278 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

communicating to your Lordship, that, notwith- 
standing all that has passed, much remains of 
that old affection to our parent state, which dis- 
tinguished our happier days ; that we still regard 
a contest with her as the greatest possible evil 
next to the loss of our rights and privileges ; and 
that there is a general disposition to a reconcil- 
iation upon any terms consistent with those es- 
sential rights, which ought to distinguish an Eng- 
lish colonist from those of an arbitrary state." 

He did not, however, disguise from Lord Dart- 
mouth, that with this feeling there also existed 
a temper, which long continued irritation made 
it dangerous further to provoke. " The King's 
speech was received with a kind of sullenness, 
which I cannot describe, which, however, was 
strongly expressive of a determination not to sub- 
mit without a struggle, in case measures of con- 
ciliation were rejected by Great Britain. There 
is scarcely a man in this country, my Lord, out 
of office, not of immediate appointment from 
England, who will not resist for ever the claim of 
taxation by Parliament." 

After showing in what respects the govern- 
ment might substitute conciliation for coercion, 
the concluding words of the letter are, " This 
country will be deluged with blood, before it will 
submit to taxation by any other power than its 
owD iegislature.*' 



JOSEPH REED. 279 

« 

With this solemn warning did Reed's cor- 
respondence with Lord Dartmouth end ; and, in 
little more than two months afterwards, the bat- 
tle of Lexington began the eight years' war of the 
revolution, ws^ed from Massachusetts to Geor- 
gia. At the same time that the Colonial Sec- 
retary was receiving, from his private correspond- 
ent in Philadelphia, temperate and wise counsel, 
tc^ether with impressive forewarning, the official 
correspondence of General Gage was recommend- 
ing the putting a respectable force in the field, 
the seizure of the most obnoxious of the leaders, 
and the proclamation of pardon to others, as the 
ready remedy for colonial discontent. If, in after 
years, as the war went on in one campaign after 
another ; as the King's troops gained victories 
without reaping the fruits of victory, and suffered 
defeats which brought all the disasters of defeat, 
until, at length, the baffled monarch and minis- 
try were constrained to recognize the independ- 
ence of America ; if, in such years. Lord Dart- 
mouth's mind had recurred to the official and 
private letters, which reached him from America 
before hostilities began, he could not have failed, 
on comparing them, to feel how, under the in- 
fluence of the former, an infatuated ministry had 
given itself up to bad counsels and a vicious pol- 
icy, and, on the other hand, how much of can- 
dor and political sagacity had been unheeded ia 



280 AMERICAN BI06RAPHT. 

the private letters from his correspondent in 
Philadelphia. 

At the same time that Mr. Reed wrote his 
last letter to Lord Dartmouth^ he wrote to Mr. 
De Berdt, that there were but two modes to be 
thought of, to prevent apprehended extremities; 
one by temporizing, repealing the acts lately 
passed, which distressed Boston, and the tea duty, 
leaving the question of right undiscussed, and at 
the same time protecting the dignity of the 
mother country by a payment of the damages 
sustained by the destruction of the cargoes of 
tea, about which, in that case, there would be 
no difficulty ; the other, to propose to the several 
assemblies to send commissioners to England to 
settle a constitution for America, and, as a prelimi- 
nary, to suspend the operation of the late acts, 
the . continuance of which would be regarded as 
a species of duress^ excluding the idea of a free 
conference or voluntary submission. 

He represented, also, that it had now become 
necessary, if overtures for reconciliation were to be 
made, that they should come from Great Britain ; 
and that, if this was derogatory to the dignity 
of the government, it had brought the necessity 
upon itself by the contempt with which all appli- 
cations from America had been received, tend- 
ing to draw in question the absolute, uncontrolled 
powers of Parliament. "My opinion," writes 



JOSEPH REED. 281 

Mr. Reed to his English relative, ^^ of the system 
of colony administration must be wholly changed, 
before I can think of supporting any measure of 
the British government founded upon it; but in 
truth the support of any single person, of much 
more consequence than I can pretend to be, will 
be of little consequence in a country where the 
people more generally read, discuss, and judge 
for themselves, than perhaps any other in the 
world." 



CHAPTER IV. 

Appointed Mtlitak^ Secretary to Washington. — 
Campaign at Cambridge. — Return to PhiladeU 
phia. — Washington's Correspondence. — Pennr 
sylvania Politics. — Reed elected to the Assent 
hly. — Constitution of 1776. — Opinions on 
the Subject of Independence. 

The determination, which Mr. Reed had grad- 
ually formed, of discontinuing his correspondence 
with Lord Dartmouth, was not altered, although 
strong solicitations to resume it were communi- 
cated to him from the Secretary through Mr. De 
Berdt. Nor did he find sufficient encouragement 
to do so in the assurance, which was ^vea tA 



282 AMERICAN BIPGRAPHT. 

him^ of some public benefit having resulted from 
his letters. The dissatisfaction he had expressed, 
in one of them, respecting the manner in 'which 
American petitions had been received by the 
government, was privately spoken of as a cause 
for the gracious * reception the King, as Lord 
Dartmouth informed Mr. De Berdt, gave to the , 
Address from the Congress, which was delivered 
by the Secretary officially, and not by the agents. 
Careful reflection on the nature of the contro- 
versy, and observation of the state of feeling in 
Great Britain and America, satisfied the mind of 
Reed, that a gracious manner of receiving a pe- 
tition was an inconsiderable remedy for difficul- 
ties that lay much deeper ; and, however desirous 
he was, from personal as weUr|is public motives, 
that amicable intercourse between the two coun- 
tries should be restored, he had ceased to be 
hopeful of reconciliation. 

As chairman of the general committee in 
Philadelphia, Mr. Reed was actively engaged in 
the measures adopted for the relief of the inhabit- 
ants of Boston, and, when the popular resent- 
ment was suddenly excited to a high pitch by 
the news of the battle of Lexington, the sympa- 
thy witl^fiheir New England fellow countrymen 
was shown by the Philadelphians in supplies of 
ammunition. It was just one month before War- 
ren sealed his devotion to the cause of his 



JOSEPH &EED. 

country by his life's blood, that he wrote to 
Reed, " The sympathy, which in your kind letter 
you discover, both in our sufferings and successes 
in opposing the enemies of the country, is a fresh 
proof of that benevolence and public spirit which 
I ever found in you." A military organization 
was begun by the formation of battalions of the 
" Pennsylvania Associated Militia," in one of 
which Reed was chosen Lieutenant-Colonel. 

When General Washington, by virtue of his ap- 
pointment as Commander-in-chief, proceeded to 
the eastward in the latter part of June, 1 775, he 
was accompanied by a number of the citizens of 
Philadelphia as far as New York, and by Mr. 
Reed as far as Cambridge, the place of the first 
head-quarters. In the course of a few days, on 
the 4th of July, his appointment by the General 
as his secretary was announced. This unex- 
pected change from his professional course of life 
was caused by considerations of the public ser- 
vice, and the earnest wishes of Washington, when 
about to undertake the arduous duty of organ- 
izing the first Continental army. Mr. Reed ap- 
pears to have left home with no expectation of 
such absence as this appointment made neces- 
sary, and of which the first intimation to his 
family and friends was communicated from Cam 
bridge. The appointment was accepted from a 
simple sense of duty and of personal {tvbw&^Vk^ 



284 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

for Washington, for the functions were not of 
such a nature as to hold out the attraction of 
pubhc applause or 'honor, important as they were 
in connection with many difficult and wearisome 
details of the labors of the Commander-in-chief. 

In accepting the office, Mr. Reed was separat- 
ing himself suddenly, somewhat against the judg- 
ment of his friends, from professional engage- 
ments, which were numerous and important ; his 
pecuniary means were far from ample, even in 
the simple style of living in those days, and 
unintermitted attention to his profession was 
most desirable for his family. He was leaving 
behind a wife of delicate constitution, with the 
care of young children at her feet, and to whose 
memory, as one of the women of the revolution, 
it is due to state, that she shared in the self-sac- 
rificing spirit of her husband by her fortitude 
and unrepining acquiescence in the duty of his 
absence. 

Living, as Reed did, in the familiar intimacy 
of a member, of Washington's family, at head- 
quarters, the acquaintance which had been form- 
ed between them in Philadelphia now ripened 
into a friendship, which led to a correspondence 
that was of a most affectionate and confidential 
character, and continued during the arduous peri- 
ods of the war. In urging Mr. Reed's acceptance 
of an appointment of this kind, Greneral Wash- 



JOSEPH BEED. 

ington appears to have had in view much more 
than the services of a ready and skilful writer ; 
he sought to secure the assistance of one, whose 
personal energy and whose knowledge of public 
affairs might be useful to him in many ways, 
amid the multitude of his duties, and, even more 
than this, one on whose judgment and friendship 
he might rely as a confidential counsellor, and 
to whom, as he appears to have done, he might 
unburden his mihd amid the anxieties and per- 
plexities of his situation. 

How much Washington deplored even a tem- 
porary separation from his first secretary, and 
what value he set upon his services, appears from 
several of his letters. In one he writes, " My 
mind is now fully disclosed to you, with this 
assurance sincerely and affectionately accompany- 
ing it, that, whilst you are disposed to continue 
with me, I shall think myself too fortunate and 
happy to wish for a change." Again, " I could 
wish, my good friend, that these things may give 
a spur to your inclination to return ; I feel the 
want of your ready pen greatly.'* The im- 
portant and confidential nature of the office 
appears from a letter to Mr. Reed, in which^ 
speaking of another of his secretaries, he says, 
'< Though sensible, clear, and perfectly confidential, 
he has never yet moved upon so large a scale as 
to comprehend at one view the diversity of i»&t- 



986 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ter which comes before me, so as to afford that 
ready assistance, which every man in my situation 
must stand more or less in need of. If he 
should go, I shall be really distressed beyond 
measure, as I know of no persons able to supply 
your places, in this part of the world, with whom 
I would choose to live in unbounded confidence. 
In short, for want of acquaintance with the 
people hitherward, I know of none who appears 
to me qualified for the office of secretary.'' 

Amid the manifold and arduous duties, which 
were accumulated upon Washington at the be- 
ginning of the war, his admirable habits of 
business, and his ability in correspondence, still 
left it important for him to be relieved as far as 
possible in the composition of letters, which 
could be intrusted to an able and confidential 
secretary. It was in this, among other respects, 
that the services of Reed proved valuable to 
him. The nature of the secretaryship appears 
from the manuscripts, which are preserved, of the 
original draughts of letters in Reed's handwriting, 
with alterations and interlineations by Washing- 
ton. It is not the smallest of the honors of the 
subject of this memoir, that he was selected by 
such a man as Washington, as one whom he 
could trust with the representation of his opin- 
ions, frequently on occasions of much responsi- 
bility, and which could only be accomplished in 



JOSEPH REED. 287 

connection^ with habits of unreserved and confi- 
dential intimacy. 

Unprepared as Reed was, when he left Phila- 
delphia, for a protracted absence, he remained in 
Washington's family until the chief difficulties 
in organizing an army of the new levies were 
overcome, and the regular investment of Boston 
somewhat diminished the active duties in camp. 
Being well acquainted with the solicitude of the 
Commander-in-chief to make an attack on Boston, 
or strike some decisive blow, Mr. Reed delayed 
his return to Philadelphia, until, after the plan 
was abandoned, it seemed pretty well ascertained 
that the British force, had no disposition to be- 
gin offensive operations, and Washington's almost 
impetuous desire was repressed by his military 
council. After four months' tour of duty as 
secretary, Reed returned home in the autumn of 
1775, his place being supplied by a temporary 
appointment. 

The daily and intimate personal intercourse of 
Washington with Reed was now succeeded by a 
full and frequent correspondence, in which the 
General seemed to find relief for a mind perplexed 
and oppressed, by giving free utterance to his 
feelings in a tone, which he was assured would 
not be mistaken for unreasonable querulousness by 
one who knew well the difficulties of his situation, 
and deeply sympathized with him. On hv& t^ 



288 AMEHICAN BIOORAPHT. 

turn to Pennsylvania, Mr. Reed fou/id himself 
embarrassed by the conflict between duties of a 
public and private nature, virhich detained him 
there, and a desire to return, to render assistance 
to Washington. The progress of the war had 
not yet affected the state of business in the 
courts of law, and, in order to facilitate the return 
of his secretary, Washington wrote to one of 
the Virginia delegation in Congress, to induce 
the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania to accommodate 
Mr. Reed's professional engagements. 

To Reed himself, Washington wrote, saying, 
" With respect to what you have said of yourself 
and your situation, to what I have already said 
on this subject I can only add, that, whilst you 
leave the door open to my expectation of your 
return, I shall not think of supplying your 
place ; " and again, " Real necessity compels 
me to ask you whether I may entertain any hopes 
of your returning to my family. If you can 
make it convenient, and will hint the matter 
to Colonel Harrison, I dare venture to say, that 
Congress will make it agreeable to you in every 
shape they can. My business increases very 
fast, and my distresses for want of you along with 
it.'' Immediately after having written an ur- 
gent letter for Reed's return, Washington, with 
fine delicacy, writes, "In my last, by Mr. John 
AdamS; I communicated my distresses to you, on 



JOSEPH RSED. 

account of my want of your assistance. Since 
this, I have been under some concern at doing 
it, lest it should precipitate your return before 
you were ripe for it, or bring on a final resignar 
tion, which I am unwilling to think of, if your re- 
turn can be made convenient and agreeeable." 

Although still prevented from rejoining the 
Commander-in-chief, Mr. Reed was sedulous in 
rendering such service to him as was in his 
power, in the way of information, and the; frank 
counsels which their friendship warranted. The 
cordial manner in which such communications 
were welcomed, while it illustrates the intimacy 
that was cherished between them, serves also to 
show a fine trait in the character of Washington, 
which perhaps has not been sufficiently observed 
amidst its higher and more heroic quahties. He 
writes, " I am much obliged to you for the hints 
contained in both your letters, respecting the 
jealousies which you say are gone abroad. I 
have studiously avoided, in all letters intended 
for the public eye, I mean for that of the Con- 
gress, every expression that could give pain or 
uneasiness; and I shall observe the same rule 
with respect to private letters, further than ap- 
pears absolutely necessary for the elucidation of 
facts. I cannot charge myself with incivility, or, 
what in my opinion is tantamount, ceremonious 
civility, to the gentlemen of this coYoii^ \ VswX Ni 
VOL. viii. \9 



290 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

such my conduct appears, I wilh endeavor at a 
reformation, as I can assure you, my dear Reed, 
that I wish to walk in such a line as will give 
most general satisfaction.'' 

And again, "The hints you have communi- 
cated irom time to time not only deserve, but 
do most sincerely and cordially meet with, my 
thanks. You cannot render a more acceptable 
service, nor, in my estimation, give a more con- 
vinciQg proof of your friendship, than by a free, 
open, and undisguised account of every matter 
relative to myself or conduct. I can bear to 
hear of imputed or real errors ; the man who 
wishes to stand well in the opinion of others 
must do this, because he is thereby enabled to 
correct his faults, or remove prejudices which are 
imbibed against him. For this reason, I shall 
thank you for giving me the opinions of the 
world upon such points as you know me to be 
interested in ; for, as I have but one capital ob- 
ject in view, I could wish to make my conduct 
coincide with the wishes of mankind, as far as I 
can consistently ; I mean, without departing from 
that great line of duty, which, though hid under 
a cloud for some time, from a peculiarity of cir- 
cumstances, may, nevertheless, bear a scrutiny." 

It is in the same letter, January 14th, 1776, 
that Washington thus unburdens his fiill heart 
to his friend. 



\ 



JOSEPH R£ED. 291 

*^The reflection upon my situation, and that 
of this army, produces many an uneasy hour, 
when all around me are wrapped in sleep. Few 
people know the predicament we are in on a 
thousand accounts; fewer still will believe, if 
any disaster happens to these lines, from what 
cause it flows. I have often thought how much 
happier I should have been, if, instead of ac- 
cepting of a command under such circumstances, 
I had taken my musket upon my shoulder, and 
entered the ranks ; or, if I could have justified 
the measure to posterity and my own conscience, 
had retired to the back country, and lived in a 
wigwam. If I shall be able to rise superior to 
these, and many other difllculties which might be 
enumerated, I shall most religiously believe that 
the finger of Providence is in it, to blind the 
eyes of our enemies ; for surely, if we get well 
through this month, it must be for want of their 
knowing the disadvantages we labor under. 

"Could I have f(i#eseen the difliculties which 
have come upon us, could I have known that 
such a backwardness would have been discov- 
ered in the old soldiers to the service, all the 
generals upon earth should not have convinced 
me of the propriety of delaying an attack upon 
Boston till this time. When it can now be at- 
tempted, I will not undertake to say; but this 
much I will answer for, that no opporlumV^ ^asv 



992 AMERICikN BIOGRAPHT. 

present itself earlier than my wishes ; but, as this 
letter discloses some interesting truths, I shall be 
somewhat uneasy till I hear it gets to your hand, 
although the conveyance is thought safe.'' 

On his return to Philadelphia, Mr. Reed found 
the political affairs o( the province of Pennsyl- 
vania in a state of perplexity and uncertainty, 
which it would hardly be appropriate to attempt 
to describe in a work like this. Party animosity, 
growing out of a conflict with the proprietary in- 
fluences, had been already of many years' stand- 
ing, and which, after having disturbed Pennsyl- 
vania' in its colonial condition, was now about 
to take the new forms which continued to agi- 
tate it as a state. It was a condition of things 
calculated seriously to embarrass cooperatioa in 
the common cause of the country, and Reed 
found that, on this account, his presence in Phil- 
adelphia was important at this time. . 

There were influences adverse to colonial re- 
sistance, which it was ndlessary to counteract 
and restrain, which was the more difficult to ac- 
complish, from the fact that those influences had 
a large share in the administration of the gov- 
ernment of the province. Apart from differences 
of opinion, which, of course, prevailed in all 
parts of the country, in 1775 and the early part 
of 1776, as to the extent to which colonial re- 
sistance should be carried, and what modes of 



JOSEPH REED. 293 

oppositi<m should be adopted, the chief conflict 
of opinion in Pennsylvania was the somewhat 
local question, whether the charter institutions 
ought to be continued or abandoned, there being 
this peculiarity, it must be remembered, that, 
the Governor having no power to prorogue or 
dissolve the Assembly, the people were not ne- 
cessarily obliged to have resort to conventions 
to supply the place of a legislative assembly. 

Dr. Franklin, and others who had been adverse 
to the proprietary government, naturally desired 
that the revolutionary changes should not spare 
the existing system, while others thought il best 
to continue, if possible, the charter institutions, 
and, by the agency of the Assembly, of which 
many of the popular party were members, to 
carry on the government effectively in concert 
with the other colonies. This latter opinion was 
entertained by Reed, until he lost the hope of 
adapting the charter system to the exigencies of 
the times. Dickinson and Charles Thomson con- 
tinued to deprecate the abandonment of the sys- 
tem, as not only unnecessary, but injurious to the 
cause of the country. 

The variety of opinion on this subject, and 
the presence in the Assembly of not a few loy- 
alist members, had the effect of rendering the 
course of that body perplexed and uncertain. 
The doubts which prevailed, as to wtwil tkv^X 



294 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

be expected from the proceedings of the l^kh 
lature, threw the responsibility for all active meas- 
ures upon the Committee of Safety, whose en- 
ergy became the substitute for the inertness of 
the Assembly, especially in all matters of military 
preparation, and the collection and manufacture 
of ammunition. Of the Committee of Safety 
Reed was chosen the chairman, in which capaci- 
ty he was charged, among other duties, with that 
of addressing the Provincial Convention of New 
Jersey, to induce a cooperation in arranging de- 
fences of the Delaware River, and raising an 
artillefy corps for that special service, in antici- 
pation of an attack on the central colonies. 

In January, 1776, Mr. Reed was elected a 
member of the Assembly, in the place of Mifflin, 
who declined the seat. His colleague from the 
city was Dr. Franklin, who soon after resigned, 
for a reason which now seems remarkable, con- 
sidering his subsequent career, the infirmities of 
age, and was succeeded by Rittenhouse. Reed 
took his seat in February, and was, by special 
or4er, . added to the committee on grievances. 
He appears to have been an active and promi- 
nent member for more than four months, at the 
expiration of which time he withdrew, for the 
purpose of rejoining General Washington at New 
York. 

In accepting a seat in the Assembly, he con- 



JOSEPH RKED. 295 

templated .the performance of a special duty, on 
the fulfilment of which it was his intention to 
return to camp. On hearing of his election, 
Washington wrote, from Cambridge, ^^ I congrat- 
ulate you on your election, though I consider it 
as the coup^de-grace to my expectation of ever 
seeing you a resident of this camp again. I 
have only to regret the want of you, if this 
should be the case, and I shall do it the more 
feelingly, as I have experienced^ the good effects 
of your aid." But, in answer to this friendly 
expression of regret, Reed wrote to assure him 
of ^ bis intention to return to head-quarters with 
as little delay as possible, communicating, at the 
same time, the fact, that Congress had acceded 
to the General's proposition that more suitable 
provision should be made for the office of sec- 
retary, on account of the extraordinary services 
which devolved upon it. 

The special duty, which Reed was solicitous 
to accomplish in the Assembly, was to make 
such changes as would bring the legislature, un- 
der the charter, into more active harmony with 
the popular sentiment of the colony. This was 
to be effected chiefly by increasing the represen- 
tation, and by taking off the instructions to the 
delegates in Congress, which had been adopted 
in November, 1775, and by which the delegation 
from Pennsylvania was " strictly enjoined, on be- 



AMERICAN BiaOBA^HT. 

half of the colony, to dissent from and tttterly 
reject any propositions, should sncb be made, 
that may cause or lead to a separation from our 
mother country, or a change of the form of this 
government." These changes, with some others 
of a like tendency, were the objects which Mr. 
Reed,* on accepting a place in the Assembly, 
avowed his intention to devote his chief endeav- 
ors to accomplish. By this course, he thought 
that the cooperation of Pennsylvania in the com- 
mon cause would be best secured, and the con- 
fusion and embarrassment avoided, which would 
probably attend a sudden overthrow of the chajr- 
ter of the colony. 

The strength of the Tory party in the charter 
Assembly, and the hesitation of doubting men, 
proved, however, serious obstacles, and it was 
only by laborious and unintermitted exertions 
that the changes were effected. The increase 
of the number of representatives was determined 
on, and Dickinson and Reed were placed on the 
committee to arrange the change. When, some- 
what later, it was resolved that new instructions 
should be prepared for the delegates in Congress, 
they also served together on the committee ap- 
pointed to draft them. These changes, however, 
proved inadequate, in consequence of the force 
of influences adverse to the revolutionary move- 
ment, and all efforts on the part of the patriot 



OSBPH REED*. 397 

fiiends of the charter failed if^ saving it. In a 
memoiF of this kind, it would not be appropriate 
to trace particularly the transition from the char- 
ter to the new coneftitution ; a change, that was 
at last effected more by irresistible revolutionary 
impulse, than by deliberate choice. 

The popukr feeling was quickened, and grew 
impatient, as the approach of hostilities became 
naore apparent. At an early day in the month 
of May, the sound of distant iring down the 
Delaware River was heard, the first sound of ac^ 
tual war which reached this part of the colonies, 
at the spirited action between the skx>p-of-war 
Roebuck and the gondolas manned by Phil'* 
adelphia sailors. On the 10th of the same 
month, the important resolution in Congress, re- 
ported by John Adams, was adopted, recommend- 
ing the adoption of new governments in the sev- 
eral colonies ; and, in a few days, the resolution 
was fortified by a preamble, declaring that the 
exercise of authority under the crown should be 
totally suppressed. The citizens of Philadelphia 
met, to consider what measures were necessary 
on the dissolution of the government; and it 
was concluded to call a convention, and to pro- 
test against the Assembly doing any business un- 
til the sense of the province was taken in the 
convention. After this, the functions of the As- 
sembly gradually expired ; and, in September, 



298 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

1776, the new constitutiQii, which had been 
formed by the convention, was proclaimed. 

During this interval between Mr. Reed's re- 
turn from camp to Philadelphia and his rejoin- 
ing General Washington, the correspondence be- 
tween them was full and frequent, written with 
that affectionate cordiality which characterized 
their friendship. Among the letters of Wash- 
ington at this period of the war, there are none 
which surpass those addressed to Reed, in in- 
terest, for particular information and unreserved 
expression of opinion and feeling. There ap- 
pears to have been a very complete sympathy in 
their views of the state and prospects of public 
affairs. On the great question of independence, 
on which there was, even until a late day, so much 
variety of sentiment, there was no difference in 
their minds. 

It was for some time, even before the beginning 
of hostilities, that Reed had ceased to regard the 
prospect of reconciliation between England and 
the colonies in any other light than an improb- 
able result of the contest, and his thoughts were 
early turning to independence as the natural and 
unavoidable consequence of the long protracted 
and unremedied grievances. In September, 1775, 
writing from camp to a member of his family, 
he remarks, that a return to the unsuspecting 
confidence and affection between the two coun- 



JOSEPH REED. 299 

tries is rather to be wished than expected; adding, 
in the same letter, ^' I have no notion of being 
hanged for half treason. When a subject draws 
his sword against his prince, he must cut his 
way through^ if he means afterwards to sit down 
in safety." 

Early in March, 1776, he writes to the same 
kinsman, <' I look upon separation from the moth- 
er country as a certain event, though we are not 
yet so famiHarized to the idea as thoroughly to 
approve it. Some talk of the commissioners, but 
so faintly, that it is easy to see they do not ex- 
pect any benefit, honor, or safety from the ne- 
gotiation. The Congress have acceded to every 
proposition the General has made, as to myself, 
so that I expect to set out for camp as soon 
as I have removed my family either to Burling- 
ton or Haddonfield, and the session of the legis- 
lature is over. The Congress are paving the 
way to a declaration of independence, but I be- 
lieve will not make it until the minds of the 
people are better prepared for it, than as yet 
they are." 

At the same date, he wrote to Washington, 
" There is a strange reluctance in the minds of 
many to cut the knot, which ties us to Great 
Britain; particularly in this colony and to the 
southward. Though no man of understanding 
expects any good from the commissioners, yet 



300 AMERICAN BlIdORAPHT. 

the% are for waiting to hear their proposals before^ 
they declare off." He shortly after informs 
Washington, that *' many of the most timid, a^ 
those who have hankered so nrach after recoil* 
G^iation, seeing so little of a spirit of that kind 
in Great Britain, have come off very much from 
their sentiments, the result of old prejudices and 
new fears." 

On the subject of the expected commissioners 
from England, as well as upon that of independ- 
ence, Washington and Reed appear to have 
been exchanging opinions in entire accordance. 
Reed writes, in March, 1776, "To tell the truth, 
my dear General, I am infinitely more afraid of 
these commissioners than their generals and 
armies. If their propositions are plausible, and 
behavior artful, I am apprehensive they will di- 
vide us. There is so much suspicion in Con- 
gress, and so much party on this subject, that very 
little more fuel is required to kindle the flame. 
It is high time for the colonies to begin a gradual 
change of delegates. Private pique, prejudice, 
and suspicion, will make its way into the breasts 
of even good men, sitting long in such a council 
as ours; and whenever that is the case, their 
deliberations will be disturbed, and the public 
ittterest of. course suffer." 

Washington replied, " If the commissioners do 
not oome over with full and ample powers to 



JOSEPH EESD. 9M 

treat with Congress, I sincerely wish they inajr 
never put their feet on American ground, as it 
-must be self-evident, in the other case; that they 
come over with insidious intentions, to distract, 
<livide, and create as much confusion as possible. 
How, then, can any man, let his passion for rec- 
onciliation be never so strong, be so blinded and 
misled, as to embrace a measure evidently de- 
signed for his destruction ? No man does, no 
•man can, wish the restoration of peace more 
fervently than I do ; but I hope, whenever made, 
it will be upon such terms as will reflect honor 
upon the councils and wisdom of America. 
With you, I think a change in the American 
representation necessary ; frequent appeals to the 
people can be attended with no bad, but may 
have very salutary eflects." 

During Mr. Reed's stay in Philadelphia, his 
return to head-quarters, to resume the office of 
secretary, was at no time lost sight of by either 
Washington or himself. In reply to a letter 
written as early as February, the General an- 
swers, " Your favor of the 18th gives me much 
pleasure, as I am led to hope I shall see you of 
my family again. The terms upon which you 
come will be perfectly agreeable to me, and I 
should think you neither candid nor friendly if 
your communications on this subject bad ni>t 
been free, unreserved, and diverted qC thai i^JkSis^ 



302 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

kind of modesty, which too often prevents the 
elucidation of points important to be known." 

Very Portly, however, after these arrange- 
ments were made, the evacuation of Boston by 
the British army, in the month of March, render- 
ed Reed's departure from Philadelphia less im- 
portant, and enabled him to remain there to take 
part in the measures in the Assembly of the 
province, which have been spoken of above, and 
upon the .successful issue of which so much of 
the public safety was supposed to depend. 



CHAPTER V. 

Appointed by Congress AdjutanUOeneral of the 
Continental Army, — Campaign in New York. 
— Arrival of Lord Howe. — Letter of Robert 
Morris. — Interviews with Officers bearing 
Flags of Truce. — Conference between Wa$hr 
ington and Colonel Paterson, the British Adju- 
tant'Oeneral. — Military Plans. — Reed's Let- 
ters to his Wife. 

When the American army moved southward to 
New York, Mr. Reed again found himself embar- 
nuued by opposite demands upon his services in 



JOSEPH REED. 

the cause of his country; on the one hand, his du- 
ties in the Assembly, at a critical period of Penn- 
sylvania affairs, and, on the other, the personal as 
well as official solicitude of General Washington 
to have him again connected with his military 
family. Very soon after reaching New York, 
Washington writes to him, "When, my dear 
Sir, will you be with me ? I fear I shall have a 
difficult card to play in this government, and 
wish for your assistance and advice to manage it. 
I have not time to add more, than that I am, dear 
Sir, yours, most affectionately." 

It was in reserve, however, for Reed to resume 
his connection with the army in a much more 
responsible station than that of military secretary 
to the Commander-in-chief. When, in 1775, he 
accepted an appointment at head-quarters, it was 
doubtless regarded by him as a mere temporary 
measure, brought about chiefly by the friendly soli- 
citations of Washington, and without any inten- 
tion of abandoning his profession, and exchanging 
a civil for a military life. The association with 
the camp lasted long enough, perhaps, to serve 
the two purposes of giving him a taste for mili- 
tary service, and of showing to Washington that 
his secretary had a facility in adapting himself 
to this new sphere of duty, and at the same 
time no small share of executive energy, together 
with a promptness and soundness o{ yadigoieciV^ 



804 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

which Washington appears to have placed much 
confidence in. The office of Adjutant-General 
of the Continental army was now vacant by the 
promotion of Greneral Gates ; and when Wash- 
ington visited Philadelphia in the latter part of 
May, 1776, he had a personal conference with 
Congress, which led. them to appoint Reed to the 
vacant post on the 5th of June. With the de- 
cided opinions which Reed had formed of the 
public cause, he was, at the time when he was 
chosen Adjutant-General, in a state of painful 
perplexity as to the course he should pursue, 
whether to serve his country in the civil depart- 
ment of public life, continuing at the same time, 
as far as was practicable, his professional labors, 
or to devote himself to military service, in which 
he had no experience. 

These difficulties were increased by the gen- 
eral confusion, that was beginning to prevail in 
the pursuits of private life, and by his finding 
himself with inadequate means of providing for 
those who were dependent upon him, a family, 
comprising not only a wife and young children, 
but other relatives. His young wife had left 
her native land, to share his affections and 
fortunes in the colonies; and, after only a few 
years of tranquil and happy married life, was now 
about to encounter the first of that series of 
anxieties and distresses, amid which the meek 



JOSEPH REED. 305 

fortitude and gentle heroism of her character 
appear never to have forsaken her. 

Mr. Reed spared his wife the painful duty of 
giving her consent to his military appointment, 
by accepting it without consultation with her, 
whose judgment on other occasions was so much 
valued by him. She was absent at Burlington, 
in the neighboring province of New Jersey, 
whither he had already removed his family when 
expecting to resume the station of secretary at 
head-quarters. He writes to her, 

" You will be surprised, but not, I hope, de- 
jected, when I tell you that a great revolution 
has happened in my prospects and views. Yes- 
terday the General sent for me, and, in a very 
obliging manner, pressed me to accept the office 
of Adjutant-General, which General Gates lately 
filled. The proposition was new and surprising, 
so that I requested till this day to consider of it. 
I objected my want of military knowledge; but 
several members of Congress and the General 
treated it so lightly, and, in short, said so many 
things, that I have consented to go. . I have been 
much induced to this measure by observing, that 
this province will be a great scene of party and 
contention this summer. The courts are stopped, 
consequently no business done in my profession, 
and at all events my time so engrossed, that I 

VOL. YIII. 20 



306 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

have not a moment to devote to keeping up my 
stock or adding to my law knowledge. The 
appointments of the office are equal to seven 
hundred pounds per annum, which will help to 
support us till these calamitous times are at an 
end. Besides, this post is honorable, and, if the 
issue is favorable to America, must put me on a 
respectable stand. Should it be otherwise, I 
have done enough to expose myself to ruin. I 
have endeavored to act for the best, and hope 
you will think so." 

In the middle of June, 1776, Reed, leaving 
his wife and children in New Jersey, proceeded 
to New York, where he joined Washington, and 
entered upon his military duties as Adjutant- 
General, with the rank of Colonel. The ap- 
proaching campaign, which proved so eventful, 
it was expected would be found very different 
from the campaign at Boston, where the enemy 
was besieged in the city, and the American army 
intrenched in the neighborhood, and where no 
general engagement in the open field took place. 
The purpose now was to raise an army strong 
enough for field operations, and to bring them to 
a proper state of discipline. With raw and inex- 
perienced troops, unused to the restraints of 
military rule, and impatient often of protracted 
service, the task of discipline was most arduous. 
In the labors and difficulties of such service, 



JOSEPH REED. 307 

the office of Adjutant-Genera) of course shared 
largely. 

The campaign, which began in the summer of 
1776, comprised the important series of events 
from the battle of Long Island to the retreat into 
New Jersey, and the revival of the American 
cause by the success at Trenton and Princeton. 
It does not belong to this memoir to trace it, 
except to illustrate the personal relations of the 
subject of this biography to the troubled times 
in which his lot was cast. Mr. Reed's private 
and familiar correspondence, consisting chiefly of 
the frequent letters to his wife, has been com- 
pletely preserved. It furnishes, in the simplest 
and most unafiected form, a narrative of all that 
was passing in the busy and anxious scene 
around him; and it gives unreserved expression 
to the various feelings, which prevailed from day 
to day, under difierent circumstances, in a camp 
of untried and in a great measure undisciplined 
soldiers. 

The publication of such a correspondence, 
written with no thoughts of its ever passing 
beyond the perusal of a family circle, might in a 
more extended memoir, the mere domestic de- 
tails alone being suppressed, best illustrate the 
character of the writer, and the sufferings and 
privations of those times of trial. It would show, 
that, amid the inevitable alternations of ho^ ^lA 



308 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT* 

apprehension, of eager confidence and discour- 
agement, freely uttered in the confidential let- 
ters of a husband to his wife, the writer never 
wavered in the lofty and generous sentiments, 
which the conviction of the justice of his cause 
inspired, and that the motives which actuated 
him were never lowered beneath a pure sense 
of duty, and of devotion to his country. It 
would be manifest, too, from all that fell from 
Reed's pen in the unguarded openness of a 
domestic correspondence, that, when once his 
resolution was taken, that the colonies were 
justified in asserting independence, and their 
only safety lay in it, even before the public 
councils had determined on the measure, he 
never looked back, nor, when the contest was 
most unequal, and well nigh desperate, turned 
in thought to voluntary submission as the refuge 
of the colonies. 

The other side of this familiar correspond- 
ence, consisting of the letters written by the wife, 
in her place of retreat, to the husband in camp, 
is entitled to be briefly characterized as illus- 
trating the character of the young matron. With 
the father of her children, whose life was their 
dependence, absent in scenes of danger, a peace- 
ful profession unexpectedly changed to a soldier's 
life, no murmur broke from her, no word of 
natural repining or reproach was uttered to per- 



JOSEPH REED. 309 

plez him in holding the path of duty, no ten- 
der calculation was thought of to reconcile the 
safety of his honor with the welfare of herself 
and her children ; but the depth of her affection, 
and the strength of her character, to all appear- 
ance one of the gentlest, was shown in the pla- 
cid acquiescence in that stern necessity of duty 
which separated them, placing him in danger, 
and leaving her with the arduous responsibility 
of an unprotected family. The future was all 
dark before them. 

In June, 1776, when the American army was 
awaiting in inactive expectation the arrival of 
the British force in the harbor of New York, 
Reed writes to his wife, "We are hourly ex- 
pecting the fleet to arrive here. Unless this 
army is speedily and considerably reenforced, I 
doubt we shall wage very unequal war. Keep 
up your spirits, as I endeavor to do mine, re- 
flecting that our cause is just, and that there is 
a Supreme Being who directs and overrules all." 
And again, "I hope you will be able to keep 
up your spirits, though I acknowledge in your 
situation the trial is severe ; but it must be rec- 
onciled by a sense of duty, and confidence in 
that Supreme Being, who orders all things for 

the best. Our lot is cast in diflicult and trou- 

• 

bled times, in which our utmost fortitude is ne- 
cessary ; nor do I despair, if the country \a ^tiv 



310 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

mated with a suitable spirit; but if that fails, 
our case will be desperate indeed, as we have 
proceeded such lengths, that, unless we go fur- 
ther, we shall be branded most justly as the 
basest and meanest of mankind, nor shall I think 
any indignity or subjection too degrading for us. 
Instead of contesting about our settling forms 
of government, we must now oppose the com- 
mon enemy with spirit and resolution, or all 
is lost." 

At the time the British fleet, consisting of a 
large number of ships of war and transports, ar- 
rived in the harbor of New York, there prevailed 
in the American camp a painful sense of the 
great inadequacy of the troops then in camp, 
and a still more painful sense of uncertainty, as 
to the willingness and promptness of the people 
to furnish the necessary reenforcements. Ex- 
presses were immediately despatched in various 
directions, to hurry on the new levies. On this 
duty, too. Reed was sent into New Jersey by 
Washington, who wrote immediately after to 
Governor Livingston, " Since Colonel Reed left 
this place, I have received certain information 
from the Hook, that about forty of the enemy's 
fleet have arrived there, and others are now in 
^sight, and that there cannot be a doubt but the 
whole fleet will be in this day and to-morrow. 
I beg not a moment's time may be lost in send- 



JOSEPH REED. 311 

ing forward such parts of the militia as Colonel 
Reed shall mention. We are so very weak at 
this post, that I must beg you to order the 
companies from Staten Island immediately to 
this city." 

From the discharge of this special service, 
Reed, before returning to head-quarters at New 
York, went on to Amboy, to ascertain exactly 
the number of vessels that had arrived with 
the British fleet. Animated with the immediate 
prospect of active service on the arrival of the 
enemy, he writes to his wife, "Troops are 
coming in fast, and if they defer an attack any 
time, we shall have a number sufiicient to cope 
with them. I think there can be little doubt 
but they will first land on Long Island. Every 
thing, I hope, will turn out right, an4 we shall 
again enjoy many happy days together." And 
a day or two later, he writes, "The summer is 
now pretty well wasted. If this army can be 
kept from penetrating into the country, or get- 
ting possession of this place, America is saved." 

It was a few days later that Lord Howe ar- 
rived as a special commissioner, charged with 
a plan of reconciliation; just at the time, how- 
ever, that Congress had taken the decisive step 
of declaring independence. The high character 
of the Admiral for ability and integrity, his po-' 
litical opinions on American affairs, and his re- 



312 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

cent friendly intercourse with Dr. Franklin in 
England, made the question of conference with 
him one of considerable interest. Immediately 
on his arrival in America, a letter, of which he 
was the bearer, was brought unopened to Col- 
onel Reed at head-quarters. It was from his 
brother-in-law, Mr. De Berdt, who wrote with 
the hope of contributing to an accommodation 
between the two countries, by impressing upon 
Reed's mind a just opinion of Lord Howe's 
character, estimable alike in private and public 
life, and in all respects admirably qualified to 
conduct with good feeling, as well as wisdom, 
his difficult commission, and still more to satisfy 
him thatjhe embassy would be conducted in a 
conciliatory spirit. 

" As I had reason," wrote Mr. De Berdt, " to 
believe Lord Howe had expressed the most anx- 
ious solicitude to bring about an accommodation 
without bloodshed, and to draw the sword with 
the greatest reluctance, and that these expres- 
sions were not only the language of his lips, but 
the dictate of his heart, I had a great desire to 
be introduced to him, and this day I had the 
honor of a conference, when his Lordship's con- 
versation not only confirmed the report, but his 
friendly disposition towards America, and assur- 
ances of his inclination to efiect a reconciliation 
without force, far exceeded my expectation ; and 



JOSEPH BXXD. 313 

though the assurances of great men are frequent- 
ly without meaning or intention, I have the 
strongest belief in what he said, and the great- 
est faith in his peaceful intentions. Do, my dear 
friend, let me persuade you, that Lord Howe 
goes to America as a mediator, and not as a 
destroyer. 

"I firmly believe it, upon my honor. Were 
it prudent in me to reveal all he said, I would 
most cheerfully and readily do it. I quote not 
his Lordship's authority for what I say, but give 
you my opinion, on a well grounded belief of 
what I advance. This he has declared, he had 
rather meet you, and that immediately on his 
arrival, in the wide field of argument, than on 
the chosen ground for battle ; and I am confi- 
dent a parley on the footing of gentlemen and 
friends is his wish and desire ; and it is generally 
believed, with his disposition to treat, he has 
power to compromise and adjust ; nor do I think, 
if a conference should be brought about, any- 
thing unbecoming a gentleman will be desired, 
or unreasonable concessions expected. These 
things believed, I could not be happy in my 
own mind without communicating them to you, 
and Lord Howe has promised to take charge of 
this letter. I beg, therefore, to recommend them 
to your most serious consideration. 

" My Lord Howe is not unacquainted with 



314 AMERICAN BIOOBAPHT* 

your name. I have so high an opinion of your 
abilities and honor, and have had such repeated 
instances of your friendship and affection, that 
everything has been said by me that you can 
desire or expect ; and I have not a doubt, if a 
treaty or parley is brought about, in which you 
may be engaged, every degree of respect you 
can desire, or attention you can wish, will be 
shown to you." 

Immediately on receiving this letter, Mr. Reed 
thought it his duty to communicate it to Con- 
gress, and for this purpose enclosed a copy of it 
to Robert Morris, one of the delegates from 
Pennsylvania. A long letter from Mr. Morris 
in reply, which has never been published, is 
full of historical interest, especially as coming 
from a signer of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, and only about two weeks after that meas- 
ure. He advocates earnestly, both the propriety 
and policy of hearing the propositions, which the 
commissioners had to offer. 

" If," said he, " the Admiral and General are 
really desirous of a conference, I think and hope 
they will address our General properly. This may 
be expected, if they have powers beyond grant- 
ing pardons ; if they have not, it is idle for them 
to solicit any intercourse, as no good can possibly 
arise to them or their cause from it ; but on our 
part^ I think that good policy requires that we 



JOSEPH BEED* 316 

'should hear all they have to say. I am not for 
making any sacrifice of dignity ; but still, I would 
hear them, if possible, because, if they can offer 
peace on admissible terms, I believe the great 
majority of America would still be for accepting 
it. If they can only offer pardons, and that is 
fully ascertained, it will firmly unite all America 
in their exertions to support the independency 
they have declared ; and it must be obvious to 
every body, that our united efforts will be abso- 
lutely necessary. This being the case, why 
should we fear to treat of peace, or to hear the 
commissioners on that subject? If they can 
offer terms that are advantageous and honorable 
for this country, let us meet them. If they 
cannot, we are not in a situation or temper to 
ask or receive pardons, and all, who do not mean 
to stoop to this ignominious submission, will con- 
sequently take up their arms with a determination 
to conquer or to die." 

These opinions of Robert Morris correspond- 
ed with those which were entertained on the 
subject by Reed, who, the day after receiving the 
letter which Lord Howe had brought for him, 
in writing to his wife, remarked, " I do not see 
any inconvenience or danger in a conference of 
proper persons to know Lord Howe's powers and 
propositions of peace. If negotiation would not 
tend to slacken our preparations, I would vvvsk 



316 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY* 

to know the extent of those powers, which he 
says are so great. I think, if only granting par- 
dons is meant, and no concession on the point of 
taxation, it would unite all to perseverance and 
resolution, trusting the event to Providence." 
Again, writing to a kinsman, he says, ^^ If the 
spirit of the people be what I hope it is, some 
good may arise from knowing the full extent of 
the powers of the commissioners, that all pretext 
and excuse may be wholly removed ; for nothing 
more enfeebles the mind, than that suspense 
which leaves it doubtful whether it will be 
called on to act or not." In another private 
letter he writes, '< I think a specification of the 
powers of the commission, if obtained, would 
show that nothing but simple unconditional sub- 
mission will do. This would silence all opposers 
of the public measures, and, in my opinion, ani- 
mate our own men ; seeing every other hope 
gone, they would rely upon their own strength, 
and no enemy is so dreadful as a desperate 
one." 

With his opportunities of accurately knowing 
the strength and condition of the American 
army. Reed could not but be conscious of the 
very unequal conflict they were about to venture 
upon against superior numbers and discipline-; but, 
with a painful conviction of this, he was not led 
to foster any hope of a satisfactory result of the 



JOSEPH REED* 817 

commission. He thought the parties too wide 
apart to allow the most distant expectation of 
successful negotiation, and, as to Lord Howe's 
powers, he did not believe he had authority to 
concede anything. It was to the British Adju- 
tant-General, on the occasion of his interview, 
that Colonel Reed observed, that uniting the 
civil and military powers in the same person, as 
they were in Lord Howe, looked as if conquest, 
rather than peace and reconciliation, was in- 
tended. 

On the 14th of July, a flag of truce from the 
British fleet appeared, which the Adjutant-Gen- 
eral was ordered to go down and meet, in com- 
pany with Colonel Webb, one of General Wash- 
ington's aids. About half way between Govern- 
or's Island and Staten Island, the boats containing 
the American officers and the bearer of the flag 
of truce met, when an interview took place, 
which is thus described in a letter from Reed to 
his wife. 

" After I had written my letter to you, a flag 
came in from Lord Howe. The general officers 
advised the General not to receive any letter 
directed to him as a private gentleman. I was 
sent down to meet the flag. A gentleman, an 
officer of the navy, met us, and said he had a 
letter from Lord Howe to Mr. Washington. I 



318 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

told him we knew no such person in the anny. 
He then took out a letter directed to George 
Washington, Esquire, and offered it to me. I 
told him I could not receive a letter to the 
General under such a direction. Upon which, 
he expressed much concern; said the letter was 
rather of a civil than military nature ; that Lord 
Howe regretted he had not come sooner ; that he 
had great powers, and it was much to be wished 
the letter could be received. I told him I could 
not receive it consistently with my duty. Here 
we parted. After he had got some distance, he 
put about, and we again met him. He then 
asked me under what title General, but, catching 
himself, Mr. Washington, chose to be addressed. 
I told him the General's station in the army was 
well known ; that they could be at no loss ; that 
this matter had been discussed last summer, of 
which I supposed the Admiral could not be 
ignorant. He then expressed his sorrow at the 
disappointment, and here we parted. I cannot 
help thinking but that we shall have a renewal of 
it to-day, or a communication of the business in 
some other way. For, though I have no hopes 
that the letter contains any terms to which we 
can accede, or, in short, is anything more than a 
summons of submission, yet the curiosity of the 
people is so great, and, if it is, as may be sup- 



JOSEPH REED. 319 

posed, couched in strong and debasing terms, it 
would animate the army exceedingly to do their 
duty." 

A few days after, a flag again appeared, when 
the same officers went down, and were met by an 
aid of Lord Howe's, who said, that as there ap- 
peared to be an insurmountable obstacle between 
the two Generals, by way of correspondence. Lord 
Howe desired his Adjutant-General might be ad- 
mitted to an interview with his Excellency Gen- 
eral Washington, on which Colonel Reed, in the 
name of General Washington, consented, and 
pledged his honor for his being safe returned. 
The next day was appointed for the interview, 
when Colonel Paterson, the Adjutant-General of 
the British forces, was met and escorted to Knox's 
quarters, where the conference was held with 
General Washington. It lasted about an hour. 
Reed was present, and immediately after the con- 
ference was concluded, prepared, at Washington's 
suggestion, notes of what had passed on both 
sides. The original notes differ only in a few un- 
important particulars from the revised account, 
which was communicated to Congress, and is a 
well known historical document. At the conclu- 
sion of the interview, Colonel Paterson was in- 
vited to partake of a collation, and was introduced 
to the general officers, who came forward when he 
was about to retire. He made strong ackuowl- 



320 AMERICA.N BIOGRAPHT* 

edgments that the ceremony of blindfolding 
him, usual on similar occasions, had been dis- 
pensed with, and was escorted back to his own 
barge. In the official despatch from Lord Howe 
to Lord George Germain, the interview was, it 
appears, pithily described as "more polite than 
interesting." 

During the months of July and August, the 
reenforcements of the British army continued to 
arrive, and with them the Hessian mercenaries, 
while, on the other hand, the officers in the 
American service appear scarcely to have in- 
dulged a conjecture as to the future that was 
hanging so doubtfully over them. Great as was 
the disparity of the two armies, and ill prepared, 
in many respects, as was the American force 
for the conflict, Reed's letters home show that 
the thought of anticipating an attack was occa- 
sionally entertained. He mentions, that an at- 
tack upon Staten Island was seriously thought 
of; but when it came to be executed, it was 
found there were neither men nor boats enough, 
and that the additional fortifications erected by 
the enemy would prevent such a plan from being 
resumed. He writes to his wife, 

" It seems likely that it will be some time 
before any thing of consequence takes place. 
If our troops would come in, as they should do, 
some stroke might be made upon the enemy 



JOSEPH REED 3S1 

before they collect their wnoie lorce. This is 
what 11^ ;mi;ioh'iriBlifl«lS^ not strength 

sufficient. As to seeing you before the summer 
is over, I do not allow myself to think of it. 
When the path of duty is plain, one must pur- 
sue it, leaving the event to Providence. A sec- 
ond parting, under the prospects we now have, 
would be very distressing to us both, and would 
renew those gloomy sensations which I have not 
been able wholly to conquer. I trust we shall 
have a happy meeting in the fall, which will be 
infinitely better than a painful interview of a few 
hours now." 

On the important military question of the 
propriety of attempting to keep possession of the 
city of New York, the Adjutant-General appears 
early to have come to the conclusion, which at 
length was forced upon the minds of all. " I 
cannot see," he said, " the propriety of risking 
the fate of America and this army, as they seem 
to me to depend on the single cost of defending 
this spot of ground against a more numerous and 
much better provided army. At least, I think we 
should have a magazine of arms and ammunition 
as a reserve, in case it should be wanted ; for now 
our whole stock is here, and if we should meet 
with any disaster, I do not know how we should 
repair it." With General Greene and others, 
who formed on the question a mmorily vtk \h0^ 

VOL. VIII. 21 



322 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

military council of the Commander-in-chief, 
Reed was of opinion that the Island of New 
York should be evacuated, and the city burned, 
to prevent its affording winter quarters to the 
enemy. "We should make it," said he, "a 
war of posts, prolong, procrastinate, avoid any 
general action, or indeed any action, unless we 
have great advantages. If we can prevent their 
penetrating into the country, the possession of a 
small piece of ground, covered by their shipping, 
can be of little importance. If they do not 
strike a coup-de-main here, which I much appre- 
hend, I should be for destroying the city and 
retiring, when we can defend it no longer. It is 
a mere point of honor, which keeps us here now ; 
one great object, the communication of the North 
River, is over, and I confess I do not see the 
propriety of risking the fate of America, which 
will much depend on that of this army and its 
military stores, to defend the city." 

During the month of August, before the battle 
of Long Island, the frequent and almost only 
intelligence which reached the American camp 
was of the arrival of the enemy's reenforcements, 
and the chief solicitude was to prevent the dis- 
couraging effects of soldiers returning home, and 
to hasten the arrival of fresh troops. The large 
increase of the British army appears not to have 
impaured Reed's confidence, or rather bopefuhiesB, 



JOSEPH REED. 323 

of maintaining defensive operations with success. 
On the 7th of August he writes to his wife, 
"The enemy have received a reenforcement of 
a hundred sail within these ten days ; they 
make a very formidable appearance. When I 
consider the force and preparations against us, 
I cannot but admire the spirit of the country and 
the inequality of the contest. The whole world 
seems leagued against us. f!nemies on every 
side, and no new friends, arise ; but our cause is 
just, and there is a Providence which directs and 
governs all things. The late movement of the 
enemy is intended as a decisive one, and will 
prove so to this army, if it is not baffled by the 
vigilance or defeated by the bravery of our troops. 
In either case, we shall still be able to support 
the contest, if the spirits of the people are not 
depressed by the unprosperous state of our 
affairs. We hear strange reports on this subject ; 
but surely it must equal the most sanguine wishes 
of any person, to keep this great army at bay the 
whole summer, and prevent their overrunning the 
country." * 

In a letter written a few days later, there 
occurs a touching trait of domestic affection, 
which may be cited, from a correspondence of 
the most familiar and confidential kind, as illus- 
trating how much of manly gentleness of dispo- 
sition was united with the energy and ^tW^% 



324 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

impetuosity of character, which distinguished the 
writer in his public career. 

" While our correspondence is yet open," he 
writes to Mrs. Reed, ^'I shall improve it; as 
writing to you, my dearest wife, constitutes my 
greatest pleasure next to hearing from you. 
Besides, the uncertainty how long it may con* 
tinue is another motive to enjoy it as fully as I 
can. I never felt .^ more painful sensations, than 
when I waked this morning from a most pleasing 
dream of peace and domestic happiness to a 
recollection of our present state, in which we 
have so much to apprehend ; for upon the fate of 
this army, I take it, that of the country very 
much depends. Providence has cast our lot in a 
most unhappy period, but it is our duty to sub- 
mit with patience to its dispensations, which, 
however dark and gloomy they appear to us short- 
sighted mortals, are designed for wise and great 
purposes. Under this confidence let us rest, 
trusting in His goodness who orders all things 
for the best, and humbly depending on him for 
strength to support and enable us to discharge 
our several duties with honor and fidelity.*' 



JOSEPH RXID. • 325 



CHAPTER VI. 

Landing of the British Army on Long Island. 
— Battle of Long Island. — Retreat from 
Brooklyn, — Washington's Description of his 
Army. — Reed's Letters. 

The weary and anxious uncertainty, that had 
prevailed in the American camp, as to the be- 
ginning of actual hostilities in this campaign, was 
put an end to by the intelligence that General 
Howe had landed a large body of troops at 
Gravesend, on Long Island, on the 22d of Au- 
gust. The day before, Washington had received 
information that such a movement was contem- 
plated, and that a simultaneous attack would be 
made, by the army and fleet, both upon the 
works that had been raised on Long Island and 
upon the city. 

On the 23d, Colonel Reed writes home, " Yes- 
terday, General Howe landed a body of troops 
on Long Island, the number from five to eight 
thousand. As there were so many landing 
places, and the people of the Island generally so 
treacherous, we never expected to prevent their 
landing; so that Colonel Hand,* who was sta- 

• Edwurd Hand, one of the most gallant and meritoriouB 
officers of the revolution. In the early pait o^ Yn^>\L^ 



326 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

tioned nearest the landing place, moved up im- 
mediately. By our last accounts, they were about 
five miles from the ferry, and about three from 
our works on the Island. All the deserters say 
an attack will also be made here very soon ; but 
we see no preparation. The greatest vigilance 
is had to prevent a surprise, which we have to 
fear more than anything. About five thousand 
Connecticut militia have just come in, and more 
are arriving." 

Again, on the next day, " Since yesterday, 
our troops have been skirmishing with the enemy 
on Long Island, with various fortune ; but we 
have generally driven them back. Several were 
killed on both sides, but the numbers of ours 
not ascertained. Most of the Pennsylvania troops 
are ordered over. Our officers and men have 
behaved exceedingly well, and the whole army 
is in better spirits than I have known it at any 
time. The gallantry of the southern men has 
inspired all others, so that there will be an em- 
ulation who shall behave best. There is a wood 
between our works and the enemy's camp, of 
which each party is endeavoring to possess them- 
selves ; as yet we have kept it, and I hope we 



entered the service as Colonel of one of the Pennsylvania 
regiments, and served throughout the war with great dis- 
tinction. He was afterwards Adjutant-Generil, and was 
promoted to the rank of Bngadier-GeneraL 



JOSEPH REED. 327 

shall, as it is very important. The enemy's ships 
are moving so much downwards, that we begin 
to think their grand attack will be on Long 
Island. Indeed, this place is now so strong, 
that, in the present temper of the men, the ene- 
my would lose half their army in attempting to 
take it. While I am writing, there is a heavy 
firing, and clouds of smoke rising from the wood. 
General Putnam was made happy by obtaining 
leave to go over. The brave old man was quite 
miserable at being kept here." 

The skirmishing in different parts of the Island, 
from Gravesend Bay to the lines at Brooklyn, 
continued with little intermission, and with con- 
siderable severity, from the 23d of August until 
the battle of the 27th. It was the first fighting 
in the open field that occurred during the war, 
and it was the first service of the southern 
troops ; the Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Mary- 
land regiments behaving with great steadiness, 
and disputing the ground very bravely with the 
disciplined troops of the enemy ; with what suc- 
cess, is best shown by the cautious manner with 
which the British General advanced in carrying 
into execution his plan of operations. On the 
26th, it having, by that time, become evident that 
the engagement would take place on Long Island, 
Washington crossed over from New York to 
Brooklyn. The Adjutant-General accoav^^w\feA. 



328 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

him, and remained there, on active duty, till 
they returned together to the city, when the re- 
treat across the river was efTected. On the fol- 
lowing day, in the general engagement known 
as the battle of Long Island, Colonel Reed saw 
his first service in battle. 

The action on Tuesday, the 27th of August, 
began before daybreak, by an attack upon the 
'advance picket guard, consisting of a detachment 
of the Pennsylvania troops. A division of the 
American army, composed of part of Lord Stir- 
ling's brigade of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and 
Delaware regiments, immediately moved to the 
support of the guard, stationed near the ene- 
my's left wing; and, soon after seven o'clock, 
that wing of the British army, commanded by 
General Grant, was discovered advancing, with 
their field artillery in front ; and, at a distance 
of little more than two miles from the American 
Unes at Brooklyn, the engagement became gen- 
eral. The reader is presumed to be acquainted 
with the events of the battle, and the disas- 
trous issue. While its immediate influence was, 
however, to weaken the strength of the American 
army, and dishearten the soldiers, it afibrded an 
example of admirable intrepidity and determina- 
tion, in desperately disputing the ground, in open 
fight, with superior numbers and discipline. The 
action was fiercely fought till midday, when the 



J08CPH BEAD. 8S9 

rout of the American troops that were engaged 
was complete, with severe loss in the killed and 
wounded, and a large number taken prisoners, 
among whom were General Sullivan, Lord Stir- 
ling, and several other officers of rank. 

The three divisions of the British army were 
masters of the field, though not without heavy 
loss, and, towards the close of the day, had ad- 
vanced to within a few hundred yards of the 
American redoubts at Brooklyn; the right wing 
of the enemy's army, under Sir Henry Clinton, 
advancing, at the same time, for the purpose of 
turning the left flank. The only alternative now 
left was to ofier a determined front, and, calling 
in the troops in reserve on New York Island, to 
stake the fate of the whole army in an attempt 
to resist the British storming parties, if they 
should advance upon the works at Brooklyn. 
The British grenadiers had pressed on within 
musket-shot of the lines, and were so eager to 
attack the redoubts, that repeated orders were 
necessary to check thend. General Howe, un- 
willing to expose his force to the loss, which 
might be sustained in an assault upon an enemy 
that had made the open field a bloody one for 
the victors, and was now intrenched within works 
that were pronounced, by the British engineers, 
"judiciously planned, but ill executed," deter- 
mined to call off his troops from making thi^ 



330 AMERICAN BIOOBAPHT. 

assault, and content himself with getting pos- 
session of the lines more slowly, but at less cost, 
by regular approaches. Such was the position 
of the two armies on the night of the 27th. 

On the 28th, Washington appears to have ad- 
hered to his intention of risking a battle at his 
lines. The day was one of most anxious' and 
arduous preparation, occupied in bringing over 
from New York the regiments that formed the 
reserve, in strengthening the works, and rallying 
the strength and spirits of the troops that had 
been engaged the day before, and in watching 
the movements of the enemy, whose attack might 
be expected at any moment. The Adjutant-Gen- 
eral was on duty without intermission during the 
whole day, riding from one point to another. 
He writes home, the next day, a hurried note, 
saying, " The enemy made no approach yester- 
day, except by a random fire ; but our army has 
been kept up so long, and a most unfortunate 
rain yesterday has had a very injurious effect 
on their minds, bodies, \ind arms. However, we 
hope to be able to make a good stand, as our 
lines are pretty strong. They are intrenching at 
a small distance. Our situation is truly critical ; 
but, with the blessing of Heaven, I hope we 
shall do well. My brother is well ; I saw him in 
the lines last evening. God bless you and all 
about you. Do not be uneasy if I do not write 



JOSEPH REED. 331 

every day, as sometimes it may be impossible, and 
yet I may be well. General Parsons has got in, 
as well as many men missing since the battle on 
Tuesday ; but it must be allowed to have been 
severe to us, and I believe as much so to the 
enemy, who have lost a great number both of 
officers and men. No account yet of Colonel 
Atlee or Major Byrd." 

After this letter was written. Reed, in company 
with Mifflin, who had arrived in camp the day 
before, and Colonel William Grayson, of Virginia, 
one of Washington's aids, rode to the outposts, 
at the eastern extremity of the lines, in the neigh- 
borhood of Red Hook, where there was a small 
battery, which had suffered from the cannonade 
of one of the British ships during the action of 
the 27th. The rain was now succeeded by a fc^ 
so dense, that objects could not be discovered 
at a small distance ; but a change of wind clear- 
ing the atmosphere, these officers were enabled 
to perceive the enemy's fleet lying at its anchor- 
age off Staten Island, and a passing of boats to 
and from the admiral's ship, which seemed to 
indicate that some movement was preparing. 
This they conjectured was, if the wind should 
prove favorable, to bring the fleet up, on the 
change of the tide, and, after silencing the feeble 
batteries at Red Hook and New York, anchor 
in the East River, and thus, with the arta^^ \s^ 



332 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

surround the American force, and cut off their 
retreat to the main land. The three officers 
immediately hastened to head-quarters ; and the 
communication of what they had observed is 
believed to have been the cause of a change 
of plans. A council of war was called, and 
a unanimous decision was formed to move the 
whole army across the ferry ; a retreat to the 
main land being now considered necessary at 
any hazard. 

Among the reasons which appear in the min- 
utes of the council, several are stated, which will 
also serve to show the difficulty of effecting the 
retreat, and the military skill which it required. 
There were needed, on the part of the officers, the 
prompt intrepidity and composure of veteran sol- 
diers, in order to prevent the retreat becoming 
a scene of inextricable confusion, and ruinous to 
the cause. The minutes assign, as reasons for 
quitting Long Island, the '^ great confusion and 
discouragement among the troops, the damage to 
arms and ammunition by the heavy rains, and 
the exhaustion of the soldiers by service and ex- 
posure." About eight o'clock in the evening of 
the same day, (the 29th,) the regiments were 
silently paraded, and successively embarked dur* 
ing the night, with, however, considerable con 
fusion at the ferry. Considering the uncertain 
discipline of the troops, the operations were 



JOSEPH REED. 

conducted with a regularity quite equal to what 
could have been expected. The enterprise was 
put in jeopardy by a mistaken order delivered by 
an acting aid, which prematurely, about two 
o'clock in the morning, brought the covering 
party, under the command of General MifRin, 
away from their station. 

The mistake was discovered and corrected by 
Washington in person ; and, although not only 
the advanced pickets and sentinels had been 
called in, but the whole command, which was to 
cover the retreat, was on its march to the ferry, 
their posts were resumed without the enemy per- 
ceiving what was going on at but a short dis- 
tance. Washington, with . his staflf-officers and 
the Adjutant-General, were personally engaged 
in conducting the retreat, and crossed from 
Brooklyn only when the embarkation of the 
troops was accomplished. About daybreak, the 
first intelligence of the movement reached the 
enemy ; and, although the troops were immedi- 
ately under arms and in pursuit, when the picket- 
guard crossed the crest of the works the Amer- 
ican lines were found deserted. The advanced 
parties reached the river as the last boat load 
passed out of musket range. At six o'clock on 
the morning of the 30th of August, the Ameri- 
can army, amounting to about nine thousand 



334 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHF. 

men, were landed in New York, the heavy artil- 
lery having been abandoned to the enemy. 

While the army was thus snatched almost 
from the grasp of a superior force, it was saved 
in a condition utterly dispirited by the events of 
the week ; and, in Washington's melancholy de- 
spatch to Congress, he described his situation as 
truly distressing; a great proportion of the troops 
being filled with apprehension and despair, and 
the militia, dismayed, intractable, and impatient 
to leave camp, were going off almost by regi- 
ments. In describing the want of discipline, and 
the refusal of almost. every kind of restraint and 
government, leading to a complete disregard oi 
subordination, he says, ^^Till of late, I had nc 
doubt in my own mind of defending this place, 
nor should I have yet, if the men would do 
their duty; but this I despair of." This state 
of things is mentioned here, as serving to show 
the arduous duties which Reed was about to 
encounter as Adjutant-General.* 

On the same date with Washington's despatch, 
Reed writes to his wife, "I have only time to 
say I am alive and well ; as to spirits, but mid- 
dling. The justice of our cause, the hope of 
success, and every other circumstance that can 
enliven us, must be put into the scale against 
those of a contrary kind, which I allow to be 



JOSEPH REED. 335 

serious. I hope you will endeavor cheerfully to 
submit* to the dispensations of Providence, what- 
ever they may be. My honor, duty, and every 
other tie held sacred among men, call upon me 
to proceed with firmness and resolution ; and I 
trust that neither you nor my children will have 
reason to be ashamed of my conduct. Walking 
in this path, I am sure I am right ; and, having 
done this, the event must be left to the great 
Disposer of events. My country will, I trust, yet 
be free, whatever may be our fate who are cooped 
up, or are in danger of being so, on this tongue 
of land, where we ought never to have been." 

It may help to give some notion of the sacrifice 
of domestic feeling, and the dutiful suppression 
of natural affection, which distinguished those 
times, and, at the same time, to illustrate Reed's 
character, to cite a passage from a letter, written 
at this period of the campaign, in reply to an 
urgent solicitation to make a brief visit to his 
family, on an occasion of illness. 

He writes to his wife, " What shall I say to 
your request? Heaven is my witness, that so 
strong is my affection, and so powerful my wishes, 
that, were I to give way to them, all other con- 
siderations would vanish ; but such a step would 
not only affect myself, but the public. If I, who 
have spoken so vehemently against oflicers and 
men running home in time of danger, dAO>3\& 



336 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

myself do it, the example would have the most 
fatal consequences, and, I fear, make my whole 
future life uneasy. In so distressing a situation, 
I do not know what to say or determine. When 
I look round, and see how many have gone home 
whose situation, and family, and circumstancefl, 
would so much better have permitted them to 
remain, I cannot but think I have done more 
than I ought to have done. But I can truly 
say, I have acted solely on public views ; and, let 
the issue of our contest be what it may, I can- 
not charge myself with having failed in any part 
of my duty at such a crisis." 



CHAPTER VII. 



Landing of the British Advance Guard on New 
York Island. — Evacuation of New York. — 
Skirmish of the llth September, 1776. — Death 
of Knowlton and of Leitch, — Condition of 
the Army. — Loss of Fort Washington y and 
Retreat into New Jersey. — Correspondence mih 
Charles Lee, and Misunderstanding with Wash- 
ington. 

The dispirited condition of the army, and the 
distrust entertained of the soldiers by their offi- 



JOSEPH KIID. 337 

eeni, were deplorably heightened by the circum- 
stances attending the final evacuation of New 
York, and the first landing of the British force 
at Kip's Bay at the same time. The brigades, 
which were to oppose the landing, broke into a 
precipitate and disorderly flight, without firing a 
shot, and, though with greatly superior numbers 
to the enemy, could not be formed again. It 
was witnessed by Washington himself with ve- 
hement indignation, and an angry disappoint- 
ment, which, perhaps, on no other occasion in 
the course of the war did he experience in an 
equal degree. General Greene describes it as a 
miserable, disorderly flight of whole brigades b^ 
fore an insignificant number. 

The downward tendency of things was how- 
ever happily checked, soon after, by an exploit 
on the part of a detachment of a Connecticut 
and a Virginia regiment, led into action by two 
gallant oflicers, Knowlton and Leitch, who both 
fell mortally wounded in the skirmish. In this 
engagement, which had the happiest efiect in 
reviving the spirit of the army and giving confi- 
dence to the troops. Reed had an active part, 
and his letter home gives a fresh and simple 
account of the afiair. 

As to the engagement of the 17th, (Septem- 
ber,) he writes, "I happened to be in it when 
it began, and assisted in calling ofi* our troops 

VOL. FIJI. 22 



338 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

when they had pursued the enemy as far as was 
thought proper. It hardly deserves the name 
of a battle; but as it was a scene so different 
from what had happened the day before, it ele- 
vated the spirits of our troops, and in that re- 
spect has been of great service. It would take 
up too much time and paper to go into a minute 
description of the whole affair. The substance 
of it is this. Just after I had sealed my letter to 
you and sent it away, an account came, that the 
enemy was advancing upon us in three large 
columns. We have so many false reports, that 
I desired the General to permit me to go and 
discover what truth there was in the account. I 
went down to our most advanced post, and, while 
talking with the officer of the guard, the ene- 
my's advance guard fired upon us at about fifty 
yards' distance. Our men behaved well, stood 
and returned the fire, till, overpowered by num- 
bers, they were obliged to retreat The enemy 
advanced upon us very fast. I had not quitted 
the house five minutes, before they were in pos- 
session of it. Finding how things were, I went 
over to the General to get some support for the 
brave fellows who had behaved so well. By the 
time I got there, the enemy appeared in open 
view, and sounded their bugles in a most in 
suiting manner, as is usual after a foxchase. I 
never felt such a sensation before ; it seemed to 



JOSEPH REED. 339 

crown our disgrace. The General was prevailed 
on to order out a party to attack them, and, as 
I had been on the ground, which no one else 
had, it fell to me to conduct them. They were 
Virginia troops, commanded by a brave officer. 
Major Leitch. I accordingly went with them, 
but was unhappily thwarted in my scheme by 
some persons calling to the troops, and taking 
them out of the way I intended. 

" In a few minutes our brave fellows mounted 
up the rocks, and attacked the enemy with great 
spirit. At the same time, some of our troops 
in another quarter moved up towards the ene- 
my, and the action began. Major Leitch fell 
near me in a few minutes, with three balls 
through him, but is likely to do well.* Colo- 
nel Knowlton, a brave Connecticut officer, also 
fell mortally wounded. I mounted him on my 
. horse, and brought him off. In about ten min- 
utes, our people pressing on with great ardor, 
the enemy gave way, and left us the ground, 
which was strewed pretty thick with dead, chiefly 
the enemy, though it since turns out that our 
loss is also considerable. Our greatest loss is 
poor Knowlton, whose name and spirit ought to 
be immortal. I assisted him off, and, when gasp- 
ing in the agonies of death, all his inquiry was 

* Major Leitch's wounds proved mortal, and he died 
in a short time. 



340 AMERICAN BIOOBAPHT. 

if we had driven in the enemy. The pursuit 
of a flying enemy was so new a scene, that it 
was with difficulty our men could be brought to 
retreat, which they did in very good order. We 
buried the dead, and brought off the wounded, 
on both sides, as far as our troops had pursued. 
We have since learned, that the main body of 
the enemy was hastily advancing, so that, in all 
probability, there would have been a reverse of 
things if the pursuit had not been given over. 
You can hardly conceive the change it has made 
in our army. The men have recovered their 
spirits, and feel a confidence, which before they 
had quite lost. I hope the effects will be lasting." 
In this engagement, Colonel Reed had a horse 
shot under him, and narrowly escaped being shot 
by a runaway soldier, whom he attempted to 
drive back, and whose musket missed fire when 
deliberately levelled at him. In this skirmish, 
several officers of high rank were present, with 
the hope of putting the soldiers in better heart 
Colonel Reed remarks, " I suppose many persons 
will think it was rash and imprudent in officers 
of our rank to go into such an action. General 
Putnam, General Greene, many of the General's 
family, Mr. Tilghman, and others, were in it ; 
but it was really to animate the troops, who 
were quite dispirited, and would not go into 
danger, unless their officers led the way." 



JOSEPH REED. 341 

After the army took the field, on the evacua- 
tion of New York, Colonel Reed's letters home 
became more hurried and infrequent. His duties 
were incessant and harassing. This was occa- 
sioned partly by the position of the army, but 
incomparably more by the spirit of insubordina- 
tion prevalent in camp, and the difficulty in re- 
straining, by discipline and military justice, the 
perpetration of crimes. In his despatch to Con- 
gress, of the 24th of September, Washington 
refers to the desertions occurring by thirty and 
forty at a time, and to even a worse evil, " the 
infamous practice of plundering," and the burn- 
ing of houses for the purpose of concealing the 
depredations; and in a private letter, alluding 
particularly to the appointment in the states of 
incompetent officers, he writes, "I am wearied 
to death with the retrograde motion of things, 
and I do solemnly protest, that a pecuniary re- 
ward of twenty thousand pounds would not in- 
duce me to undergo what I do." 

The office of Adjutant-General, in an army 
vitiated with such materials, must have been at 
once a most onerous and thankless one. All 
Reed's strength of mind and body was devoted 
wholly to the faithful fulfilment of his duties, 
and, never absenting himself from his post dur- 
ing the campaign, he ceased not strenuously to 
apply all the personal activity and ptom^X. ^xvet- 



342 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

gy of character, for which he was distinguished, 
to the establishment, if possible, of discipline and 
subordination. The fearlessness with which he re- 
sisted, and labored to check, abuses so numerous 
and so various, as to stand almost audaciously 
above the reach of authority, brought upon his 
services, as might have been expected, a large, 
though most unmerited share of odium. A strict 
disciplinarian was not likely to fiftd favor under 
such circumstances, and a new difficulty made 
its appearance in the sectional feeling which be- 
gan to be engendered in this campaign, espe- 
cially in the want of harmony between the south- 
ern and the New England troops. It was an in- 
sinuation, rather than an open charge, against the 
Adjutant-General, that the adverse feeling to the 
eastern troops was encouraged by him ; and, in 
the following year, the imputation was revived 
in Congress, to his injury for a short time, but 
not without affording him an opportunity of 
amply repelling it. The subject need not, at 
this point of his biography, be longer dwelt on, 
than to explain his determination respecting this 
office. It may, however, be added, that the in- 
justice of the reproach is well refuted, by the 
simple fact, that one of the most valued friend- 
ships of Reed's life, and one which, like the 
friendship between Washington and himself, does 
honor to his memory, was that which was so 



JOSEPH BEED. 343 

deeply confirmed, during their joint service in 
this campaign, between him and the most dis- 
tinguished of the New England generals. The 
affectionate and confidential intimacy between 
Reed and Greene began at Cambridge, in 1775, 
and continued, without interruption, to the close 
of their lives. 

In October, Colonel Reed writes home, "I 
have acquainted Congress with my intention to 
resign my ojffice of Adjutant-General. Every 
succeeding circumstance has confirmed this sen- 
timent, and I hope ere long to hear that my suc- 
cessor is appointed. If my personal services 
were of such weight in the scale as to make it 
preponderate, no consideration could make me 
quit the service; but as I am of opinion that 
some person may be found more skilled in mil- 
itary matters, and of more temper to bear the 
rubs and obstacles which ignorance and impu- 
dence are constantly throwing in my way, I think 
I may, with a safe conscience, resign it into 
other hands. To attempt to introduce discipline 
and subordination into a new army, must always 
be a work of much difiiculty; but where the 
principles of democracy so universally prevail, 
where so great an equality, and so thorough a 
levelling spirit predominates, either no discipline 
can be established, or he who attempts it must 
become odious and detestable ; a position which. 



344 AMERICAN BIOORAPUT. 

no one will choose. It is impossible for anj 
one to have an idea of the complete equality, 
which exists between the officers and men who 
compose the greater part of our troops. You 
may form some notion of it, when I tell you, 
that ^yesterday morning a captain of horse, who 
attends one of the generals, was seen shaving 
one of his men on the parade near the house. 
I have not yet any answer to my application, but 
expect it, as I have expressed myself of and to 
some people here with such freedom, after the 
affair of the 15th of last month, that I believe 
many of them wish me away." 

When Colonel Reed entertained the wish of 
resigning the office of Adjutant-General, it was 
his intention to continue in camp, serving as a 
volunteer in connection with Washington's staff. 
The actual resignation was still postponed, until 
Congress should be prepared to choose his suc- 
cessor ; and he remained in the energetic and 
patient discharge of the duties of the office dur- 
ing the remainder of the campaign in New York. 
In October, he appears to have been hopeful of 
a decisive and successful termination of the cam- 
paign, and to have been promptly averse to re- 
tirement from military life, though an honorable 
political station in civic life might have given 
him occasion for it. He writes to a friend in 
Philadelphia, *^ The enemy have taken post above 



J08KPU BBSJD. 346 

the main body of our army, keeping constantly 
in Tiew the same object of surrounding us. We 
have now every advantage of ground ; and, if the 
men will fight, I cannot but hope we shall foil 
them in any attempt they make. My own opin- 
ion is, that, if we cannot fight them here,- we 
cannot do it anywhere. Every nerve should be 
strained to collect and forward provisions from 
Pennsylvania and New Jersey ; for, if we can 
keep the enemy at bay but a little time, they 
must fight us under great disadvantage, or the 
season will drive them off. I was much sur^ 
prised at your mentioning me as one proposed 
for Governor, I would aot, on any account, con- 
sent to it, or anything of the kind. Pray do all 
you can to suppress any such measure." 

It is not necessary, in this memoir, to dwell 
on the series of occurrences which disastrously 
closed the campaign in New York, or the mili- 
tary questions which were discussed with so 
much painful solicitude. Fort Washington, with 
the valuable troops which garrisoned it, was lost, 
and the American army, miserably reduced in 
numbers, began its retreat across New Jersey. 
Although the campaign was thought to be draw- 
ing to its close for the winter, Washington, find- 
ing his army dwindled down to three thousand 
men, lost no time in endeavoring to increase his 
army; and, with this view, when he YQad[!k^ 



346 AMERICAN BlOORAPHr. 

Newark, he despatched his Adjutant-General to 
Burlington, to use his influence with the le^la- 
ture of New Jersey to raise more troops. This 
mission gave him, for the first time, an opportu- 
nity, while executing an order, to unite with the 
discharge of his duty the enjoyment of a hurried 
visit to his family, whom he had left in that 
place when he joined the army, and whom he 
now sent into the Pines of New Jersey, as a 
place of greater security for his wife and chil- 
dren, fleeing at the approach of the enemy. The 
domestic pleasure of this visit was more than 
counterbalanced by an occurrence, which was 
brought painfully to his knowledge on his return 
to head-quarters, and which, for a time, endan- 
gered the cordial and confidential intimacy that 
had grown up between Washington and himself. 
The circumstances of the affair were briefly 
as follows. When the retreat into New Jersey 
had begun. Colonel Reed addressed a letter to 
General Charles Lee, whose military reputation, 
at that time, was highly respected, expressing an 
earnest desire for his presence at the military 
councils at head-quarters, and lamenting the sus- 
pense in which Washington had been kept by 
the conflicting opinions on the subject of Fort 
Washington. Reed had been very anxious fior 
the evacuation of it ; but other counsels prevailed, 
after much hesitation on the part of the Com- 



JOSEPH REED. 347 

mander-m-chief, and the fort and its garrison 
fell into the hands of the enemy. To Reed's 
letter, Lee replied in one that was every way 
characteristic of him, dilating, in his peremptory 
and extravagant style, upon what he called " the 
curse of military indecision ; that fatal indecision 
of mind, which is a greater disqualification than 
stupidity or cowardice." Lee's letter reached 
head-quarters during Reed's absence at Burling- 
ton, and was opened and read by Washington, 
who supposed that it was on public business. 
What had been the tone of the letter, which had 
called such a reply from Lee, he had no means 
of knowing ; but it was a natural inference, that 
it too was derogatory to his military character; 
and thus, besides the mortification of learning the 
opinion entertained of him by an officer of Lee's 
high character for military judgment and expe- 
rience, his feelings were deeply wounded by find- 
ing, as he could scarce help suspecting, his inti- 
mate and confidential friend, the Adjutant-General, 
sharing in a correspondence which was at vari- 
ance with such friendship as had been mutually 
cherished by them. His admirable self-control 
and dignity did not, however, fail him, and he 
contented himself with enclosing Lee's letter to 
Colonel Reed, in a note of brief and cold cour- 
tesy, expressing his regret for having unawares 
opened and read a private letter, which ive\\S[i^\ 



348 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

inclination nor intention would haye prompted 
him to see. 

The distress which this occasioned to Reed 
did not, however, precipitate an explanation on 
his part ; but the course which he determined 
on, as at once the most satisfactory, and due to 
himself as well as Washington, was to obtain 
from Lee the letter itself, and, by a manly and 
candid exhibition of it, written, as it had been, 
with all the haste and freedom of the confiden- 
tial expression of a strong feeling, to satisfy his 
friend that the letter was not such a one as 
Lee's wild answer naturally led him to suppose. 
This intention was frustrated by Lee's unexpected 
and unaccountable delay in bringing up the rear- 
guard of the army, and, in less than two weeks, 
his capture by the enemy. The incidents of the 
winter campaign of 1776-7 were of too absorb- 
ing a nature to allow any recurrence to matters 
of mere personal and private grievance ; and it 
is honorable to the character of Washington and 
Reed, that, with this subject of personal dissatis- 
faction unexplained, their high sense of public 
duty prevented it from affecting, in the smallest 
degree, their relations so as to cause any embar- 
rassment, or even inconvenience, to the service. 
At no period did Reed devote himself more earn- 
estly to the support of the Commander-in-chief; 
and it was during the continuance of this partial 



JOSEPH BEED. 349 

personal alienation that Washington rendered, ai 
it will be seen, a public and substantial tribute 
to Reed's services and military ability, of the 
most gratifying kind that could be paid to a 
companion in arms. 

After the winter campaign was over, Reed did 
not relinquish the hope of recovering the letter 
from Lee, who was still a prisoner of war ; but, 
as this hope was diminished by the uncertainty 
of his release, explanation was no longer delayed. 
When it was given, what success he had in the 
difBcult work of regaining a friendship lost, at 
least in part, will best be seen from Washington's 
answer. 

On the 14th of June, 1777, he writes, "I could 
not resist the inclination of detaining Mr. Peters 
long enough to write you a short letter, to thank 
you, as I do most sincerely, for the friendly and 
aiTecUonate sentiments contained in yours of the 
4th towards me, and to assure you, that I am 
perfectly convinced of the sincerity of them. 
True it is, I felt myself hurt by a certain letter, 
which appeared, at that time, to be the echo of 
one from you. I was hurt, not because I thought 
my judgment wronged by the expressions con- 
tained in it, but because the same sentiments 
were not communicated immediately to myself. 
The favorable manner in which your opinions, 



350 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

upon all occasions, had been received, the im- 
pression they made, and the unreserved manner 
in which I wished and required them to be given, 
entitled me, I thought, to your advice upon any 
point in which I appeared to be wanting. To 
meet with anything, then, that carried with it a 
complexion of withholding that advice from me, 
and censuring my conduct to another, was such 
an argument of disingenuousness, that I was not 
a little mortified at it. However, I am perfectly 
satisfied that matters were not as they appeared 
from the letter alluded to. I sincerely wish that 
you may accept the appointment of Congress, 
and the post I am desirous of placing you in, 
and must beg to be favored with an answer im- 
mediately upon the subject, as the service will 
not admit of delay. A general oflicer in that 
department would not only take off a great deal 
of trouble from me, but be a means of bringing 
those regiments into order and service with much 
more facility than it is in my power, divided as 
my attention is, possibly to do. Mr. Peters's 
waiting obliges me to conclude, and I do it with 
great truth, dear Sir, your obedient and affection- 
ate servant." 

From this moment, such was the influence of 
frank and manly explanations, all distrust and 
estrangement were done away with, and the re- 



JOSEPH REED. 351 

lations of former friendly and aflfectionate confi- 
dence happily restored.* This result of a tran- 
sient difficulty has an especial interest in this 
memoir, as securing to the memory of Reed the 
honor of Washington's well-earned and sustained 
friendship ; and it also serves to illustrate some 
of the fine, unnoticed traits of that matchless 
character. At a later period, he wrote to Reed 
an elaborate letter on the subject of the loss of 
Fort Washington ; and it is referred to here, not 
so much for the purpose of establishing the rea- 
sonableness and truth of the strong feeling with 
which Reed, in his letter to Lee, lamented the 
causes of the loss of the fort and its garrison, as 
to show the admirable candor with which Wash- 
ington acknowledges the unwonted perplexity of 
his mind on that occasion, and the consequences 
of it; in his own words, "that warfare in my 
mind, and hesitation, which ended in the loss 
of the garrison." 

♦ The whole of the correspondence ,haa been published 
by Mr. Sparks, in an Appendix to the fourth volume ot 
"The life and Writings of Washington." 



352 AMERICAK BIOORAPHT. 



CHAPTER VIIL 

Military Operatiom in New Jersey. — Reed^s Let- 
ter of the 22d December. — Washington's of 
the 23(/. — Attempt to cross the Delaware at 
Dunks^s Ferry. — Battle of Trenton. — Pas- 
sage of the Delaware above Bristol. — Reed 
goes to Trenton. — Capture of the British 
Chasseurs near Princeton. — Battle of Prince- 
ton. — Reeds Letter to Putnam. 

When Reed was despatched to Burlington for 
the special purpose stated in the last chapter, it 
was thought, that the campaign of 1776 was 
about to be finished by the British army making 
their advanced quarters at Brunswick, and the 
American army theirs at Trenton or Princeton. 
Under this impression, he thought that the 
time had arrived when he might with propriety 
carry into efiect his wish of resigning his com- 
mission as Adjutant-General. At Burlington, on 
the 1st of December, he enclosed it in a letter 
to the President of Congress. But at midnight 
of the same day he received a message from 
Washington, that the enemy, encouraged by the 
broken state of the American troops, had changed 
their plan, and were rapidly advancing towards 
the Delaware; upon which intelligence he in- 



J08BPH ftHD. 358 

stantly sent a special messenger to recall the 
resignation. The messenger reached Philadel- 
phia in time, before Congress was in session, and 
returned with the commission, with which Reed 
rejoined Washington the next morning at Tren- 
ton. When, several months before, a movement 
of the British force during the campaign in New 
York had given rise to a report, that they were 
about to move towards Philadelphia through New 
Jersey, Reed wrote to his wife, " My heart melts 
within me at the thought of having that fine 
country desolated, for it is of little consequence 
which army passes. It is equally destructive to 
friend and foe ; and when I consider your exposed 
situation, I feel peculiar anxiety." With the nat- 
ural regret at the prospect of these apprehensions 
being fulfilled, there came however this compen- 
sation, that, if a section of country endeared to 
him from childhood was about to suffer the mis- 
eries that war brings with it, his minute famili- 
arity with the ground, that was to be the scene of 
hostilities, might enable him to render services of 
peculiar value. 

On the 8th of December, Washington, having 
pushed his retreat by crossing the Delaware at 
Trenton, and having taken post on the western 
bank, sent Reed to Philadelphia as bearer of a 
letter to Congress, urging the speedy sending on 
of reenforcements. This appeal brought out a 
YOL. nil. 23 



854 AMERICAN BIOOK^PHT. 

ocmsiderable body of the Pennsylvania militia and 
Tolunteers, the greater part of whom were posted 
about ten miles below Trenton, on the Pennsyl- 
yania side of the Delaware^ at Bristol, and were, 
together with a detachment of the Rhode Island 
troops, placed under the command of General 
Cadwalader. This position was taken to oppose 
any movement of the force under Count D(»iop, 
extending down as far as Bordentown and the 
Black Horse. As soon as the militia were col- 
lected, and posted at Bristol, the Adjutant-General 
was sent by Washington to join their commaad* 
ing officer. 

The first intimation of the plan of any ofien- 
sive movement, such as shortly after successfully 
changed the character of the campaign, may be 
traced in Washington's letters of the 14th of 
December ; but the intelligence which a day or 
two later reached him of Lee's capture, and other 
information, as well as the delay in the arrival 
of the reenforcements from the north, probably 
induced him to lay the plan aside. On tbe 18lh 
he writes to his brother, " I think, if something 
more be not done, the game is nearly up." A 
letter from General Greene, dated the 21st, shows 
however that the hope was not given up, of 
striking a blow at some part of the enemy's 
force. The extreme uncertainty that hung over 
the plan, is nevertbelesB apparent from m letter 



losfiPB AirEB. 335 

written by Washington to Robert Morris the 
next day, December 22d, dated at " Camp abore 
die Falls tt Trenton." In this letter he recom- 
aends that no arms, or valuable stores, or im<* 
portant papers, should be kept in Philadelphia; 
** for," he observes, " sorry I am to inform you, 
my dear Sir, that, unless the militia repair to the 
eity for defence of it, I see no earthly prospect 
of saving it after the last of this instant ; " and 
again, <<I am satisfied the enemy wait for two 
efvents only to begin their operations upon Phila- 
de^ta, 106 for a passage, and the dissolution of 
the poor remains of our debilitated army." It 
would not be just to infer, from this letter, 
that Washington had absolutely relinquished the 
thought of a movement, such as he had been 
contemplating a short time before ; but there was 
manifold and serious discouragement for the 
attempt. It was doubtless still the subject of 
anxious consideration with him, and of discusaon 
among his officers. Between General Mercer 
and the Adjutant^General, two or more conver* 
sations took place about this time, in which the 
question was discussed as to the propriety and 
practicability of an attempt to carry some of the 
isolated posts of the enemy on the east side of 
tlie river. Agreeing decidedly upon it, they 
determined to recommend it to the Ck)nMna]Mkr- 



356 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

in-chief and the general officers, who would form 
his council. 

On the 22d of December, the date of the 
letter to Morris, Reed, who was actively engaged 
in obtaining intelligence of the movements and 
force of the enemy, wrote from Bristol a letter 
to Washington, in which, after detailing a good 
deal of minute intelligence, that had been brought, 
in from the country occupied by the enemy, he 
proceeded to those parts of the letter, which 
possess the double interest of showing that the 
officers at Bristol had planned a separate attack 
on the Hessians below, independently of coop- 
eration against the force at Trenton, and that 
Reed was an early and earnest advocate of vig- 
orous operations offensively at that gloomy period 
of the war. He writes, 

" Colonel Griffin has advanced up the Jerseys, 
with six hundred men, as far as Mount Holly, 
within seven miles of the enemy's head-quarters 
at the Black Horse. He has written over here 
for two pieces of artillery and two or three 
hundred volunteers, as he expected an attack 
very soon. The spirits of the militia here are 
very high; they are all for supporting him. 
Colonel Cadwalader and the gentlemen here all 
agree that they should be indulged. We can 
either give him a strong reenforcement, or make 



JOSEPH REED. 357 

a separate attack ; the latter bids fairest for pro- 
ducing the greatest and best effects. It is there- 
fore determined to make all possible preparation 
to-day ; and, no event happening to change our 
measures, the main body here will cross the river 
to-morrow morning, and attack their post be- 
tween this and the Black Horse, proceeding from 
thence either to the Black Horse or the Square, 
where about two hundred men are posted, as 
things shall turn out with Griffin. If they should 
not attack Griffin as he expects, it is probable 
both our parties may advance to the Black Horse, 
should success attend the intermediate attempt. If 
they should collect their force, and march against 
Griffin, our attack will have the best effects in 
preventing their sending troops on that errand, 
or breaking up their quarters and coming in upon 
their rear, which we must endeavor to do in 
order to free Griffin. 

" We are all of opinion, my dear General, that 
something must be attempted to revive our ex- 
piring credit, give our cause some degree of 
reputation, and prevent a total depreciation of 
the Continental money, which is coming on very 
fast; that even a failure cannot be more fatal 
than to remain in our present situation ; in short, 
some enterprise must be undertaken in our pres- 
ent circumstances, or we must give up the cause. 
In a little time the Continental army wv\l V>e dSsr 



358 AMERICAN BIOOBAPHT. 

solved. The militia must be taken before their 
spirits and patience are exhausted ; and the scat- 
tered, divided state of the enemy affords us t 
fair opportunity of trying what our men will do, 
when called to an offensive attack. Will it not 
be possible, my dear General, for your troops, or 
such part of them as can act with advantage, to 
make a diversion, or something more, at or about 
Trenton ? The greater the alarm, the more 
likely will success attend the attacks. If we 
could possess ourselves again of New Jersey, or 
any considerable part of it, the effects would be 
greater than if we had never left it 

" Allow me to hope that you will consult your 
own good judgment and spirit, and not let the 
goodness of your heart subject you to the influ- 
ence of opinions from men in every respect your 
inferiors. Something must be attempted before 
the sixty days expire, which the commissioners 
have allowed ; for, however many affect to de- 
spise it, it is evident that a very serious at- 
tention is paid to it, and I am confident that, 
unless some more favorable appearance attends 
our arms and cause before that time, a very 
great number of the militia officers here will 
follow the example of those of Jersey, and take 
benefit from it. I will not disguise my own sen- 
timents, that our cause is desperate and hope- 
less^ if we do not take the opportunity of the 



JOSEPH BEEP. 359 

collection of troops at present, to strike some 
irtroke. Our affairs are hasting to ruin, if we do 
not retrieve them by some haj^y event. Delay, 
with us, is now equal to a total defeat. Be not 
deceived, my dear General, with small flattering 
appearances ; we must not suffer ourselves to be 
lulled into security and inaction, because the en- 
emy does not cross the river. It is but a re- 
prieve ; the execution is the more certain ; for I 
am very clear that they can and will cross the 
river in spite of any opposition we can give them. 
" Pardon th^ freedom I have used. The love 
of my country, a wife and four children in the 
enemy's hands, the respect and attachment I 
have to you, the ruin and poverty that must at 
tend me and thousands of others, will plead my 
excuse for so much freedom. I am, with the 
greatest respect and regard, dear Sir, your obe- 
dient and affectionate humble servant."* 

* The advanced guard of the Hessians, under Donop^ had 
at this time approached that part of Jersey, into which, 
for security, he had sent his wife with their young children, 
and the family was thus exposed, in the case of a successM 
advance, heyond tlie reach of assistance or defence. A coin* 
cidence may be noticed between the language of Colonel 
Reed's letter and that used by Washington, in a letter 
dated only two days earlier, (Dec. 20th,) addressed by him to 
Congress, and giving his advice with freedom. ** A char- 
acter to lose, an estate to forfeit, the inestimable blessings 
of liberty at stake, and a life devoted, must be my e&cuflf^" 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

This letter reached Washington in a few boors, 
and, in the course of the same day, he sent 
for Reed to head-quarters, and communicated to 
him the outlines of his plan of attack on Trenton, 
and earnestly urged, that, in the mean time, the 
enemy's posts, lower down, might be kept in 
alarm, or, if possible, an actual attack made, as 
had been already proposed. The Adjutant-Gen- 
eral then returned to Bristol, and, after conference 
with General Cadwalader, crossed the river under 
cover of night, with Colonel John Cox, and pro- 
ceeded to the quarters of Colonel Griffin, at 
Mount Holly. They found that officer sick, and 
his command in such condition, in respect to 
numbers and equipment, as to put an end to 
all hope of effective cooperation. With this dis- 
appointment they returned, reached Bristol at 
midnight, and communicated the intelligence to 
Washington. The next day. Griffin was dis- 
lodged by Donop's advance. 

The following letter, addressed to " Joseph 
Reed, Esq., or, in his absence, to John Cadwala- 
der, Esq. only, at Bristol," was received on the 
day of its date. 

** Camp above Trenton Falls, 
23d December, 1776. 

"Dear Sir, 

"The bearer is sent down to 
know whether your plan was attempted hst 



JOSEPH REED. 861 

night, and if not, to inform you that Christmas 
day, at night, one hour before day, is the time 
fixed upon for our attempt on Trenton. For 
Heaven's sake keep this to yourself, as the dis- 
covery of it may prove fatal to us, our numbers, 
sorry am I to say, being less than I had any con- 
ception of; but necessity, dire necessity, will, nay, 
must justify any attempt. Prepare, and, in con- 
cert with Griffin, attack as many of their posts 
as you possibly can with a prospect of success. 
The more we attack at the same instant, the 
more confusion we shall spread, and greater good 
will result from it. 

" If I had not been fully convinced, before, of 
the enemy's designs, I have now ample testimony 
of their intentions to attack Philadelphia so soon 
as the ice will afford the means of conveyance. 
As the colonels of the Continental regiments 
might kick up some dust about command, unless 
Cadwalader is considered by them in the light of 
a brigadier, which I Wish him to be, I desire Gen- 
eral Gates, who is unwell, and has applied for 
leave to go to Philadelphia, to endeavor, if his 
health would permit, to call and stay two or three 
days at Bristol in his way. 1 shall not be particu- 
lar ; we could not ripen matters for our attack be- 
fore the time mentioned in the first part of this 
letter, so much out of sorts, and so much in want 
of everything, are the troops under Sullivan. Let 



36S AME&io4]i ai#a&ArHT« 

me know by a ooreful ezpresg the plan you a^lo 
parsue. The letter herewith senti forward oa to 
Philadelphia. I could wish it to be there in tiiOQ 
for the southern post's departure, which will ba, 
I believe, by eleven o'clock to-morrow. 
" I am, dear Sir, 
^^ Your most obedient servant, 

^^ George Washington. 

"P. S. I have ordered our men to be pro- 
vided with three days' provisions, ready cooked, 
with which, and their blankets, they are to 
march ; for, if we are successful, which Heaven 
grant, and the circumstances favor, we may push 
on. I shall direct every ferry and ford to be 
well guarded, and not a soul suffered to pass 
without an officer's going down with the permit. 
Do the same with you." 

The importance which Washington manifestly 
attached to a 3imultaneous attack on the lower 
posts now rendered it more* necessary than ever 
to attempt to supply the disappointment as to 
Griffin's detachment. It was determined that 
an effort should be made to induce General Put- 
nam to cross the river at Philadelphia, and move 
up against the enemy with such troops as he had, 
while the Philadelphia militia, and the rest of the 
force at Bristol, should cross there. But th9 
difficulty presented itself in effecting this without 



JOSEPH axKD. 868 

endangering the secret, to obviate which, Colonel 
Reed went down to the city. After spending 
some hours, and finding that Putnam was unable, 
from various causes, to accomplish the desired 
object, he returned to Bristol in the evening of 
the 25th, where he found the troops paraded to 
make the movement, which was not dependent 
upon cooperation of the force in Philadelphia, 
however desirable that would have been. To 
prevent intelligence reaching the enemy, the 
march was to be made under cover of night, and 
by a circuitous route by a ferry four miles lower 
down the river, from which the approach to 
Mount Holly would be as direct, and through a 
more uninhabited country. 

The weather of that night proved severe and 
stormy ; and, after two battalions were landed 
upon the Jersey shore, the storm of hail and 
snow increased so much, and the ice drifted with 
such force, as to threaten the boats with do« 
struction, and to render the passage difficult, if 
not impossible, for the troops and artillery. The 
accumulation of ice upon the shore made it 
scarcely practicable to land horses and cannon. 
Colonel Reed, with some of the officers, crossed, 
to ascertain whether it could be attempted, and, 
after the most vigorous exertions, it was found 
necessary to abandon the enterprise, and to re- 
pass the advanced parties, without alarming the 



864 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

enemy. This being done, the troops were re^ 
luctantly marched back to Bristol. The Adju- 
tant-General, with one of the officers who had 
remained till the troops were embarked on their 
return, finding it impossible to recross with their 
horses, proceeded to Burlington, where they re- 
mained during the rest of the night, and in the 
morning crossed over to Bristol. 

The sound of the firing at Trenton announced 
that the engagement had taken place as planned, 
and when the rumors of its success reached 
Bristol on the same day, a plan was formed 
to make a second attempt to cross the river 
and attack some of the enemy's posts, though it 
was not then known what Washington's move- 
ment would be after the surprise of the Hes- 
sians was achieved. This was carried into effect 
on the morning of the 27th,. at a ferry, about 
two miles above Bristol ; but after a part of the 
troops had been embarked, and landed on the 
Jersey shore, a precise account of the success at 
Trenton was received, accompanied, however, 
with the important intelligence, that Washington 
had recrossed the Delaware with his army and 
prisoners, and resumed his former cantonments 
on the Pennsylvania side of the river. This at 
once presented a new and perplexing question, 
which was warmly and earnestly discussed. It 
was contended, by those who were in favor of 



JOSEPH RE£D« 366 

returning, that one object of the movement, in 
cooperating with the main body of the army, 
had ceased; that Count Donop was equal, if not 
superior, in numbers, and might march back 
from Mount Holly, and that a retreat might be 
cut off. Colonel Hitchcock, who was in com- 
mand of the New England regiments, was strong- 
ly of this opinion, strengthened by the unpro- 
vided condition of his troops. Such too was 
the opinion of the commanding olSicer, General 
Cadwalader, who thought it most prudent to re- 
treat, but appears to have yielded his own opin- 
ion to that of the Adjutant-General. The retreat 
was warmly opposed by Colonel Reed, and the 
officers who concurred with him, because the 
disappointment would have a bad effect upon the 
soldiers, who had been before called out and 
withdrawn. 

To put an end to the uncertainty of the con- 
sultation, and to prevent the retreat being deter- 
mined on. Reed proposed that the embarkation 
should be completed, and the troops marched to 
Burlington. This, however, occasioned a doubt, 
arising from an apprehension, that, as the land- 
ing had been made in open day, the enemy might 
collect their force against them at Burlington; 
but the march to that place was determined on, 
in consequence of intelligence being received that 
Donop had left the Black Horse and Mount 



366 AMERICAN BIOOBAPHT. 

Holly. Just as orders to this effect were given, 
an account was brought in, that a party of the 
enemy had been seen apparently lying in wak 
in a wood. Doubting the truth of the informa- 
tion, and anxious to prevent the abandonment 
of the plan of march just determined on, the 
Adjutant-General, witli two officers, who, like 
himself, had familiar local knowledge of that 
part of the country, reconnoitred the woods, and 
found the report groundless ; upon which, the 
troops under command of General Cadwalader 
proceeded to Burlington. 

Colonel Reed, with his companions, rode on 
towards the enemy's outposts, and, halting at 
some distance from the place where the picket- 
guard usually was posted, and seeing no smoke 
or appearance of men, advanced and found it 
abandoned. Upon questioning the neighbors, 
and being informed by them that, on hearing of 
the surprise at Trenton, Count Donop immedi- 
atdy began his retreat in the utmost panic, call- 
ing in his guards as he proceeded, Reed ad- 
vanced to Bordentown, which he found evacu- 
ated in the same manner ; and, from that place, 
one of the officers returned to Burlington, to in- 
form Cadwalader of the enemy's retreat. On 
the road it was observed, that almost every house 
had a red rag nailed upon the door, which the 
inhabitants, on the reverse of affairs, were busily 



JOSEPH BStD. 367 

pulling off. Reed continued his ride during the 
night, with bis companion, Colonel Cox, towards 
Trenton, which they reached about two o'clock 
in the morning of the 28th. They found the 
town evacuated, with not a single soldier o( 
either side there, and in a wretched condition 
from distress and plunder. 

The Adjutant-General despatched, by express, 
a hurried letter to Washington, informing him 
of the state of things, of the progress of Cad- 
walader's division, and urging him to recross 
the river again and pursue their advantages, rep^ 
resenting particularly the prospect of orertaking 
the force under Donop. Washington's reply was 
received early the next morning, with the itilbr- 
mation that orders for recrossing were given. 
Two advance parties marched into Trenton on 
that day, with instructions to the cheers to act 
under the orders of the Adjutant-General, and 
were at once sent in pursuit of Donop, to Imrass 
his retreat, and, if possible, detain him till the 
other troops came up. 

On the 30th, Washington crossed the river, 
and his whole force took possession of Trenton. 
At this time, there being great uncertainty as 
to the position and movements of the enemy, 
Washington directed the Adjutant-Oenenil, wiio 
was well acquainted mtk the country around his 
lUUive pkce> and with the inhabtiants, to remir 



368 AMERICAN BIOOBAPHT. 

noitre the advance posts of the British army and 
gain intelligence. Reed immediately set out, 
accompanied by six gentlemen, members of the 
Philadelphia City Troop, whose names deserve to 
be remembered for the boldness and gallantry 
of the affair which followed; they were John 
Dunlap, James Hunter, Thomas Peters, William 
Pollard, and James and Samuel Caldwell. The 
party went in the direction of Princeton, where 
a considerable force of the enemy was posted, 
but met with little success, the ravages of the 
enemy having struck such terror that no rewards 
would tempt the people to go into Princeton on 
the errand of obtaining intelligence. It being 
resolved, however, not to return while there was 
a chance of success, it was concluded to pass, 
and even to go round Princeton, expecting to 
find the enemy less guarded on their rear. 

As the party was moving on at a distance from 
Princeton, near enough to have a view of the 
tops of the college building, a British soldier was 
observed passing without arms from a barn to a 
farm-house. Being supposed to be a maraud- 
er, two of the party were ordered to bring him 
in; but they had scarcely set out, before another 
was seen, and then a third, when the order was 
given for the whole party to charge. This was 
done, and twelve dragoons, well armed, with 
their pieces loaded, and having the advantage 



JOSEPH REED. 369 

of the house, sarrendered to seven horsemen, six 
of whom had never seen an enemy before, and, 
almost in sight of the British army, were carried 
off, and brought prisoners into the American camp 
at Trenton, on the same evening.* Besides the 
dragoons, whose sergeant alone escaped into 
Princeton, with intelligence of the surprise, a 
^commissary was taken, and the important intelli- 
gence gained, that Lord Cornwallis, the day be- 
fore, with a body of picked troops, had reenforced 
General Grant, at Princeton, and they were pre- 
paring to march the next day to dislodge Wash- 
ington from Trenton, the whole British force be- 
ing not less than seven or eight thoirsand men. 
This intelligence rendered it important to 
strengthen the main body of the army by a junc- 
tion of the two divisions, which was effected at 
Trenton, on the 2d of January, 1777. The 

* The Philadelphia City Troop, of which the gentlemen 
who distinguished themselves on this occasion were mem- 
bers, had preserved its organization to the present day ; and, 
as a recori of their revolutionary services, it is interesting 
to add an extract of a letter written by Colonel Reed at the 
close of the campaign of 1776. " The light-horse, though 
few in number, have rendered as essential service as, in my 
opinion, the same number of men ever performed to their 
country in the same time. They thought no duty beneath 
them, and went through it with a generous disregard of 
fatigue and danger, that entitles them to the kindest notice ' 
and attention of their fellow-citizens." 
VOL. vni. 24 



370 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

question then occurred as to occupying the ad- 
vantageous ground on the east side of the As- 
sanpink, a creek which runs through the town, 
and over which is a narrow bridge, the water, 
for some distance up, not being fordable. The 
familiarity with this part of the country, gained by 
Reed during the early years of his Ufe, was now 
to serve an important purpose; and, before any^ 
plan was decided on, he suggested to Washing- 
ton, that, if the enemy should divert them in 
front, and, at the same time, throw a body of 
troops over the Assanpink, a few miles up, where 
there were several fords, the American army 
would be completely enclosed, with the Delaware 
in their rear, over which there would be neither 
time nor means of crossing. 

This suggestion was thought so important, that 
the Adjutant-General was ordered to proceed, 
with all possible speed, to ascertain the condition 
of the fords. This was immediately done by 
Colonel Reed, accompanied by a few of the Phil- 
adelphia light-horse. The nearest ford, at a dis- 
tance from Trenton of two miles, was fouud 
scarcely passable for horses, the water being high 
and rapid ; but, a mile higher up, one was found 
in good fordable condition ; and, if the enemy 
had taken the opportunity of passing it, the po- 
sition of the American army might have become 
desperate. 



JOSEPH REED. 371 

Washington, having drawn in his guards, oc- 
cupied the ground on the east side of the As- 
sanpink, the enemy, at the same time, pressing 
on, and taking possession of the other side of 
the creek on the 2d of January. The position 
of the American army was with a creek in their 
front, easily fordable a few miles higher up, and 
with the Delaware in their rear, actually impass- 
able, or liable to become so, at any moment, by 
the floating ice. After night set in, and the two 
armies were lying by their fires, within a few 
hundred yards of each other, a council of war 
was held, to determine whether to await, in their 
present position, the attack of an enemy of su- 
perior force and discipline, and exasperated to 
recover the fortune of a campaign most unex- 
pectedly snatched from them just at its close, or 
what other course to take. One of the boldest 
and best conceived operations in the war was 
determined on ; to turn the left flank of the ene- 
my, and, by a secret and forced march, to 'fall 
upon their rear, or attack their posts at Princeton 
or Brunswick, as the best means of sustaining 
and completing the success begun by the sur- 
prise of the Hessians at Trenton. The fires in 
the American camp were left burning. The 
night march to Princeton began about midnight, 
and was conducted by a back road, not generally 
known, except to those familiar with the i\«^W 



372 AMERICAN BIOQRAFHT. 

borhood of Trenton and Princeton. The follow- 
ing hurried letter from the Adjutant-General is 
probably the only contemporaneous memorial of 
the doings of that night. 

" East Side of Trenton Creek, January 2d, 1777. 
" Twelve o'clock at Night. 

" Dear General Putnam, 

<^ The enemy advanced upon us 
to-day. We came to the east side of the river 
or creek which runs through Trenton, when it 
was resolved to make a forced march, and at- 
tack the enemy in Princeton. In order to do 
this with the greatest security, our baggage is 
sent off to Burlington. His Excellency begs you 
will march immediately forward, with all the 
force you can collect at Crosswicks, where you 
will find a very advantageous post ; your ad- 
vanced party at AUentown. You will dso send 
a good guard for our baggage, wherever it may 
be. Let us hear from you as often as possible. 
We shall do the same by you. 

"Yours, J. Reed." 

Reed, after despatching this letter to Philadel- 
phia, accompanied Washington on the march, 
and shared in the dangers and honor of the bat- 
tle of Princeton, on the 3d of January ; the en- 
gagement which closed with sudden success the 
campaign of 1776. During the remainder of 



JOSEPH REEB. 373 

the month of January, when the Commander-in- 
chief made his head-quarters at Morristown, his 
letters, addressed to the Adjutant-General, when 
absent at the other posts, show how much reli- 
ance he was placing, both in important matters 
and in minute details of duty, upon Reed's zeal, 
activity, and knowledge of the country in which 
the campaign was happily completed. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Ejected Brigadier-General by Congress, — Ap* 
pointed Brigadier of Cavalry by Washington. 
— Appointed Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. — 
Declines the Appointment. — Rejoins the Army 
iU a Volunteer. — Elected to the Continental 
Congress. — Battle of Germantotvn. — Cantonr 
ment at Whitemarsh. — Military Councils. — 
Reed^s Plan of Attack on New York. — Skir^ 
mish of the 6th of December, 1777. 

When both armies had retired to winter quar- 
ters, and the active operations of the campaign 
were ended. Colonel Reed, according to the in- 
tention which he had for a time relinquished, as 
has been already stated, resigned the oflic^ ol 



374 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

Adjutant-General of the Continental army. This 
resignation was followed by a distinguished trib- 
ute to his character and services during the cam- 
paign, rendered by Washington, and which, con- 
sidering that the difficulty arising from Lee's 
letter, described in a former chapter, had not, at 
this time, been removed by explanation, was es- 
pecially honorable to both parties. When Wash- 
ington first received from Reed an intimation of 
his purpose of resigning the post of Adjutant- 
General, he proposed, in reply, to recommend 
him to Congress for appointment of a general 
command of cavalry; and, when the subject of 
an increase of general officers was urged upon 
Congress by Washington, in his letter of the 22d 
of January, 1777, he added this special recom- 
mendation ; '^ I shall also beg leave to recom- 
mend Colonel Reed to the command of the 
horse, as a person, in my opinion, in every way 
qualified ; for he is extremely active and enter- 
prising, many signal proofs of which he has given 
this campaign." 

In February, Congress elected ten brigadiers, 
but took no order on Washington's special rec- 
ommendation for the cavalry command. On 
the 12th of May, Colonel Reed was elected a 
brigadier ; and, a few days after. Congress passed 
a resolution, empowering the Commander-in-chief 
to give the command of the horse to one of the 



JOSEPH REED. 375 

brigadiers. Just before the adoption of this res- 
olution, Washington, in a letter to Colonel Moy- 
lan, said, " If Congress have it not in contem- 
plation to appoint a general of horse, but leave 
it to me to assign one of the brigadiers, already 
appointed, to that command, I shall assuredly 
place General Reed there, as it is agreeable to 
my own recommendation and original design. 
Of this please, in my name, to inform him ; but 
add, as it would not be agreeable to me, and, I 
am sure, could not be so to him, to be placed 
in a situation that might be the standing of a 
day only, I could wish to know what the views 
of Congress are on this head, which Mr. Thom- 
son, or any of the members, I suppose, could in- 
form. I would have written to General Reed 
myself on the subject and other matters, but my 
extreme hurry will not permit me to do it, and 
therefore I decline it altogether. Be so obliging 
as to offer my best regards to him, and assure 
him that I read his name in the appointment of 
brigadiers with great pleasure. 

" P. S. Having occasion to write to Congress 
by this day's post, I will request a determination 
of the matter mentioned in this letter, respecting 
the commanding officer of the horse, that I may 
know on what ground to act." 

On the day that Washington received the res- 
olution of Congress, he immediately, by the fol- 



376 AMERIGAN BIOGRAPHY. 

lowing letter to Colone] Reed, carried into effect 
the wishy which he had cherished for seveml 
months respecting a &Lvorite officer. 

«<Middlebrook, 39th of May, 1777. 
"Dear Sir, 

" Congress having empowered me, 
by a resolve transmitted to me this morning, to 
assign one of the generals, already appointed, 
to the command of the light-horse, I mean that 
you should act in that line, if agreeable to your- 
self ; and I wish you, in that case, to repair to 
camp as soon as you can. 

"I am, dear Sir, with esteem, &c. 

" George Washington." 

In an unofficial letter to Reed, some weeks 
later, Washington urged him to accept the ap- 
pointment; but, strong as was the inducement to 
assent to such earnest and friendly solicitation, 
on the score of personal friendship, he felt con- 
strained, by other reasons, to decline the com- 
mand. It was impossible to overlook the dilatory 
and evasive action of Congress, who had suffered 
four months to pass without taking any order on 
Washington's special recommendation, and then 
referred the selection to him. The adverse feel- 
ing in Congress towards the Commander-in-chief 
and his friends, which came to maturity in the 



^09MWH &Il£2>. 377 

following year, was beginning to manifest itself 
at this time ; and, with respect to General Reed, 
it was further aggravated by a rumor, sedulously 
circulated, that, during the previous campaign, 
especially in New York, he had expressed him- 
self freely and injuriously respecting a portion of 
the New England troops, and had thus fomented 
discord between the troops of the several states. 
With a deep sense of the injustice of such an 
imputation, and of complaint incurred by faith-* 
ful and strict discharge of his duties as Adju- 
tant-General, Reed was unwilling that his accept- 
ance of an appointment should, in the least 
degree, be the occasion of disturbing the har- 
mony which he knew ought to exist between 
Congress and the Commander-in-chief. His feel- 
ing of what was due both to himself and to the 
public interests was expressed in a letter ad- 
dressed, on this occasion, to a member of Con* 
gross, in which, after adverting to the great diffi- 
culties of discipline during the campaign in New 
York, and to the prejudicial and dangerous 
influences of insidious and irresponsible private 
letters on the subject of military discipline and 
duties, he proceeded to say, 

^^The last campaign was, in all respects, a 
very difficult and dangerous one. I pray most 
ardently we may never see such another; and, 
now that the army is raised on a different foot 



378 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ing, I trust we never shall. It must be evident, 
to every one of the smallest experience, that the 
plan of temporary enlistments, and appointments 
to office by popular assemblies^ are incompatible 
with the discipline and subordination necessary 
to give vigor and efficacy to an army. I have 
the satisfaction of reflecting, that, during my con- 
tinuance in office, the army never was surprised, 
(for Long Island was a separate command, and 
I was not there till I accompanied the General ;) 
that I never was absent one hour from duty 
during the whole summer, fall, and winter, till 
sent to stir up the militia of Jersey ; that, though, 
supposing the campaign was over, I had resigned, 
yet, finding my mistake, returned immediately to 
the army, and, from my knowledge of the coun- 
try, contributed, in some degree, to its success. 
When I reflect upon these things, I flatter my- 
self that those whom I have served will consider 
my character collectively, and excuse any inad- 
vertencies which haste, zeal, and anxiety for con- 
sequences, may have occasioned in times the 
most perilous and critical. 

" I have taken up thus much of your time, 
my dear Sir, ' in vindication of my character, 
which I have reason to believe has been as- 
persed by some of these private correspondents 
of members of Congress, and particularly from 
Connecticut. You will please to make that use 



JOSEPH REED. 379 

of it which your good judgment will suggest, and 
which you may think my character requires. I 
shall only, therefore, trouble you with one remark 
further ; that, if I had any prejudices or predilec- 
tions, they were in favor of a people by whom 
now my reputation is most likely to suffer. My 
education, religious profession, politics, and con- 
nections, led me to what some of my friends 
thought an indiscreet zeal in their behalf. To 
what, therefore, a change in me is to be attrib- 
uted, I must leave you to judge. Sure I am, 
that, unless' there is a happier choice of ofBcers, 
or more discipline and subordination, my country 
will have more reason to lament than I have to 
complain. 

" I now proceed to what has chiefly led me to 
address you at this time. Upon my signifying 
to the General my intention of resigning, he pro- 
posed to me to recommend me to Congress for 
the confimand of the cavalry. As that is a line 
of service not liable, in my opinion, to the same 
difliculties as the other, I acquiesced in the rec- 
onunendation, and have been waiting the result. 
So much time having elapsed, I think it probable 
that some difficulties may have arisen between 
the inclination of Congress and their complai- 
sance to the General's recommendation, an em- 
barrassment from which I ought to relieve them, 
as I am informed in no instance has any request 



380 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHr. 

or recommendation from him been slighted or 
refused. I should be sorry that this should hsp- 
pen with respect to me, and equally so that the 
iacUnations of Congress should be forced. 

" Any claims or pretensions I may have, were 
they much greater than they are, ought not to 
disturb the harmony which ought to exist be- 
tween the civil and military powers. I feel my- 
self too inconsiderable to think I make any 
sacrifice in the declaration. Many, I doubt not, 
may be found, fully equal to the post, and in 
whom all favor may centre. Should - my appre- 
hension on this subject be well founded, you 
will make such use of this letter as will obviate 
any difficulties." 

On General Reed's declining the post, the 
Commander-in-chief appears to have made no 
second selection, but left the responsibility with 
Congress, who, some months after, elected Count 
Pulaski to the command of the horse. The ap- 
pointment by Congress to the rank of Brigadier 
in the Continental army was also declined ; and, 
from this time, as soon as active operations were 
resumed in the campaign of 1777, Reed joined 
the army as a volunteer, and continued in con- 
stant and active service, without rank or pay. 

At this period of Reed's life, our attention is 
recalled to his professional career, by a circum- 
stance which at once causes a feeling of sur 



JOaSFH REED. 38t 

prise, coming in such close connection with hit 
services in the field, and exemplifies the curious 
blending together of civic and military pursuits, 
which is apt to occur in revolutionary times. 
While Congress had before them General Wash- 
ington's recommendation of him for the post of 
Brigadier-General of cavalry, he was chosen, on 
the 20th of March, 1777, by a unanimous vote 
of the Executive Council of the state of Penn- 
sylvania, to be the first Chief Justice under the 
new constitution. 

Mr. Reed was only thirty-four yearif of age, 
when he received this distinguished mark of 
confidence in his personal and professional char- 
acter ; and the honor may be best appreciated by 
considering, in connection with it, the eminence 
of those men who held the first place in the 
colonial judiciary of Pennsylvania, and in later 
times ; a station which had already been held by 
Allen and Chew, and afterwards was to be occu- 
pied by McKean, Shippen, and Tilghman. The 
appointment was made, too, with a knowledge 
that Mr. Reed was not politically in sympathy 
with the Council by whom he was chosen, and 
that he was not in favor of the new constitutioof. 
An answer to the appointment was delayed for 
some time, in the hope that something might be 
eflTected to produce harmony between the parties 
in the state, at a period when internal discotd 



AMERICAN. BIOGRAPHY. 

was SO much to be deprecated; but, being dis- 
appointed in this, Mr. Reed declined the office, 
in a letter dated July 22d, setting forth, at some 
length, his views of the "constitution, and closing 
with these paragraphs. 

" I have expressed myself very differently from 
ray intentions, if what I have offered admits an 
idea of my becoming an opposer of the execu- 
tion of the present government, much more to 
seek its entire subversion. A change of systems 
is so obviously dangerous to all those principles 
of obedience on which government is founded, 
that I think it far more eligible to supply the 
defects of that we now have, than to substitute 
one entirely new. If the sense of the people, 
who have the right of decision, leads to some 
alterations, I firmly believe it will greatly conduce 
to our happiness and security; if otherwise, I 
shall esteem it my duty not only to acquiesce, 
but to support a form of government confirmed 
and ratified by the voice of the people. 

" In the mean time, I beg leave to tender my 
services in any line conducive to the general in- 
terest or defence, or consistent with the senti- 
ments I have disclosed. And I shall esteem 
myself happy if my small abilities, influence, or 
experience, can, in any respect, assist or promote 
the wishes and views of gentlemen, who, under 



JOSEPH REEB. 

many difficulties, have borne so great and dis- 
interested a share of the public burden." 

It was just a month after declining this high 
judicial station, that, on the receipt of the news 
of the disembarkation of the British army at the 
head of the Chesapeake, Reed promptly resumed 
a military life, by joining the army as a volun- 
teer, attaching himself especially to the Pennsyl- 
vania troops, which, under the command of his 
valued friend, General John Armstrong, (the 
elder,) formed part of Washington's force. This 
division of the army, being stationed at a lower 
ford, had no opportunity of sharing in the en- 
gagement at the battle of the Brandywine, and, 
indeed, not being apprized, until a late hour, of 
the defeat of the other divisions, with some diffi- 
culty effected its retreat and joined the main 
body at Chester. Reed was present at the coun- 
cil of war, by which it was then determined to 
assemble the militia along the River Schuylkill, 
and, being well acquainted with the country, as- 
sisted General Armstrong in selecting the proper 
places for redoubts at the fords. 

All exertions to defend the passage of this 
river proved unavailing, and the British General 
succeeded in crossing it, and throwing his army 
between the American army and Philadelphia. 
Reed's family was at this season at a country 
residence, so situated on the Schuylkill thaX Vis^ 



884 AMERtCAN BI06RAFHT. 

apprehended they woald be exposed to datigefj 
if the British army pushed their inarch to Philfr 
delphia, and crossed the river in their neighbor- 
hood. In writing for the assistance of a kin^ 
man, he says, " I have but few things besides the 
women and children to remove." His wife, who, 
the year before, with her young and unprotected 
family, was near falling into the power of the 
Hessian troops, advancing towards her place gI 
refuge in the Pines of New Jersey, had now a 
still narrower escape on the approach of the eHf- 
emy, who reached the house in fifteen mrmstev 
after Reed left it. He immediately collected a 
party of about fifty men, at the Norrington meet- 
ing-house, a mile above his own house, and, re- 
turning with them, succeeded in carrying oflT trro 
prisoners. The intelligence gained^ from them 
was despatched to Washington, in a hurried let- 
ter, written on a blank page of a child's copy- 
book. 

It was during this anxious and adventurous 
month, that Reed received another public call 
to transfer him from military to civil life, being 
elected a delegate in Congress by the Assembly 
of Pennsylvania, on the 14th of September, 1777. 
He continued, however, with the army, which 
was encamped on the high grounds east of the 
Schuylkill, about twenty miles above the city. 
On the 26th of September, the advance guard 



JOSEPH BEEB. 385 

of the British army took possession of Philadel- 
phia, the main body remaining at Germantown. 
Allowing two or three days' rest, as necessary 
for the troops, Washington lost no time in de- 
termining, with his council of war, upon a plan 
of moving lower down, and making arrangements 
for an attack. On the 1st of October, Pulaski, 
the brigadier of cavalry, under an order from the 
Commander-in-chief, detailed a party of picked 
horsemen to accompany Generals Reed and Cad- 
walader upon special duty ; the two Philadelphia 
officers being intrusted with the duty of recon- 
noitring, preparatory to the attack made three 
days after. On the evening of the 3d, Wash- 
ington broke up. his camp, and on the next day 
the battle of Germantown was fought. The par- 
ticulars of that half-victorious engagement need 
not be dwelt on here. When the halt took place 
at Chew's house, in consequence of its occupa- 
tion by Musgrave's detachment, and the hurried 
military council adopted General Knox's opin- 
ion in favor of an attempt to diislodge the enemy 
from the house. General Reed is described by 
Gordon, in his history of the war, as warmly 
opposing the halt, and proposing to disregard the 
party in the house, and to advance in full force 
to the support of Sullivan and Wayne.* 

• Gordon, after mentioning the halt in front of Chew's 
house, adds, « A discourse ensues betweeTwGeTieni2te^ ^^^scsx. 
VOL, viii. 25 



AMERIGikK BiIOOBAPHT. 

After the battle, the American army retired to 
a distance of about twelve miles from the c&y, 
lit Whitemarsh, and afterwards a few miles fur- 
ther, to the Skippack Hills, while Sir William 
Howe withdrew his posts to the immediate neigh- 
borhood of Philadelphia, and fortified his post* 
tion by a line of redoubts and abatis from the 
Schuylkill to the Delaware. The country be- 
tween Chestnut Hill and the city remained ex- 
posed to the incursions of either party. The 
interval between the battle, on the 4th of Octo- 
ber, and the close of the campaign, was occupied, 
on the pa^'t of the American army, with various 
plans of attack upon the enemy in the city ; of 
distressing them, by cutting off the communi- 
cfition ' with their shipping, and supplies from 
the disaffected; and of reenforcing the forts on 
the Delaware, to prevent the approach of Lord 
Howe's vessels. 

In the various enterprises connected with these 
objects. General Reed had a frequent and im- 
portant part, which displayed that aptness for 
sound miUtary opinion, and prbmptness and en- 

and Reed, in the presence of the Coinmander-iii-chie( 
whetlier or no to advance without first reducing the house. 
Knox urges that it is contrary to all military rule to leave 
a fort possessed hy an enemy in the rear. Reed exclaims, 
^What! call this a fort, and lose the happy moment 1'" 
Bi^ry qf the ^mrv:an Reoolidiony Vol II. p. 5Si3 



Josei^A WLtiiA. 387 

ei^y ill nie dt^iaUs of «^*iUtary service, vhfch dis- 
tinguished his career as a soldier. Besides dis- 
playing much zeal in obtaining intelligence, to 
be transmitted to head-quarters, he appears also 
ta have been charged with the informal duty of 
keeping the Executive Council of the state, at 
this time removed with Congress to Lancaster, 
duly informed respecting the operations of the 
.^rmy, and to have represented at head-quarters 
the wishes of the council, while the chief city 
was in the possession of the enemy, and a valu- 
d>!e district of the state the scene of warfare. 

In the latter part of October, with a view to 
ascertain what support could be given to the forts 
dn the Delaware, and 'what interruption to the 
enemy's convoys and supplies, Reed, accompa- 
nied by Cadwalader, went down into Chester 
county to gain a thorough knowledge of the 
country, and the situation of the British forces. 
They returned to head-quarters, agreeing as to 
the facts, and in opinion that something efTec- 
tual might now be accomplished ; and a move- 
ment of the army was proposed, but not favored 
by the military council. 

The only measure of the kind, and attended 
with the prospect of bringing on an important 
engftgement between large detachments of the 
two armies, was when, intelligence having beeh 
received that a latge number of wagons, with ati 



988 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

esooii of fift^oa hundred in*^«> ^*^ p*«sed over 
the lower ferry of the Schuylkill from Philadel- 
phia, to go down to the ships for provisions, Gen- 
eral McDougal was ordered to march and attack 
them. It was found, however, that the escort 
•proved to be a large detachment, which took* 
post at Gray's Ferry, where they began to for- 
tify, in order to protect the bridge. McDougal's 
force was immediately strengthened by Potter's 
command, and the whole detachment, amount- 
ing to about four thousand men, ordered to at- 
tack the new post at Gray's Ferry, and destroy 
the bridge. Reed, who was to have accompa- 
nied General Greene, for whom the command of 
the expedition was first intended, proceeded with 
McDougal. The march was made at night ; and 
when the ground was reached at sunrise, to their 
great surprise, they found the post had been 
evacuated the evening before, and the bridge 
broken to pieces. The detachment, after de- 
stroying the enemy's huts and works, returned 
to camp, without having been able to bring on 
an engagement, but having made a good im- 
pression on the country they passed through. 

The hope of relieving the forts on the Del- 
aware continued to be entertained, and, in the 
month of November, Reed was again engaged 
in reconnoitring, with this object in view, in 
company with some of the cavalry, under the 



JOSEPH REED. 389 

command of Captain, afterwards Major Henry 
Lee. From this officer's quarters, Reed wrote 
to Washington, proposing to attempt the relief 
of the forts, by a surprise of the British force in 
that quarter, and, if necessary, to bring down the 
whole force of the American army for the pur- 
pose. The suggestion appears to have been in 
some degree favored by Washington, who had 
not relinquished the hope of offensive operations, 
and accordingly requested Reed to go into Ches- 
ter county, to explain to some officers in com- 
mand the principles of a plan for the relief of 
Fort Mifflin. The officers returned, and reported 
at head-quarters in favor of the plan; but the 
evacuation of the fort, just at that time, after a 
gallant and protracted defence, put an end to all 
these projects. 

The only offensive movement, which then pre- 
sented itself for discussion, was an attack upon 
the enemy in Philadelphia, with a view to which, 
Washington, in company with several of the gen- 
eral officers, reconnoitred the lines in person. 
Reed accompanied the reconnoitring party, and 
concurred with the large majority in disapprov- 
ing Lord Stirling's plan of an attack on the 
British army, who were well intrenched in the 
city, behind a chain of redoubts extending from 
the Schuylkill to the Delaware, on the north of 
Philadelphia; the defences being in all res^^ctA 



B90 AMSRICAN BIOOBAPHT. 

Strongly secured ; besides which, the Americsfi 
army was not in full force, since Greene had 
been detached into Jersey. After this plan was 
abandoned, an attack on the city, on the west- 
ern side across the Schuylkill, when the river 
should be frozen, was talked of, but not seriously 
entertained, and the campaign was fast drawing 
to a close, without any hope of any offensiTC 
(^ration. 

Availing himself of this occasion. Reed spent 
two or three days with his family, who were at 
a few miles' distance from camp ; but he carried 
with him, along with the disappointment at the 
loss of all opportunity for vigorous measures 
against the enemy in Pennsylvania, an undaunted 
zeal still for some project by which the cause of 
his country might be revived, as it had been the 
year before by the successes at Trenton and 
Princeton. He saw with solicitude the state of 
the public feeling, the discontented complaining 
that nothing more was done, and the judicious 
and prudent viewing with concern the approach 
of another campaign without some event to raise 
the spirits of the army and country, and sustain 
the sinking credit of the Continental money. An 
interval of inactivity in camp gave him a very 
brief and hurried enjoyment of domestic repose, 
which was devoted, however, to the preparation 
of a very elaborate letter, addressed to Washing- 



JOBBFH RJBBA. 891 

ton, on the Ist of December, and proposing for 
his consideration a plan of operations, which, for 
boldness of conception, and minute and judicious 
anticipation of the difficulties which might be 
encountered, is entitled to high commendationi 
uncertain as that must necessarily be when be- 
stowed upon any untried military project. 

This memoir does not admit of the introduc- 
tion of a document of such length, but it may 
be referred to as showing how powerfully Reed's 
mind had taken hold of the study of military 
operations, how much it had become familiarized 
with practical details, and withal, how elastic his 
spirit was in planning n very bold movement in a 
season of hesitation and reluctance in venturing 
beyond defensive measures. The letter is highly 
honorable to the writer for this reason also, that, 
while it illustrates his comprehensive views as to 
military operations, it shows an entire freedom 
from the narrow local feeling which was too often 
manifested, to the annoyance and perplexity of the 
Commander-in-chief. The plan proposed was 
for an attempt to be made for the recovery of 
New York, by attacking, and, if possible, surpris- 
ing the reduced British force that was left in 
guard of that city, and for getting possession of 
the valuable military stores there. 

The great advantage he anticipated from the 
success of the plan, was not so much the defeat 



8dS AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of a division of the British army, and the supply- 
ing the deplorable necessities of the American 
troops, in midwinter, from an abundant magazine 
of military stores, important as these objects 
would be, but the moral effect, at home and 
abroad, of showing that the enemy was not able 
to hold their conquests. The plan was matured 
in Reed's mind, together with accurate intelli- 
gence as to the condition of the British posts, and 
is enforced in the letter by a very full military 
argument, and various conceivable objections are 
carefully considered. One of the most obvious 
difficulties, the probability of the attempt being 
intercepted by reenforcements quickly detached 
from the main body of the army in Philadelphia, 
is met by an expression of his belief, stated with 
much confident composure, in consequence of his 
familiarity with the country through New Jer- 
sey, that, if intrusted with the service, he could, 
with a small force of horse and foot, so obstruct 
the roads, at that season, as effectually to retard 
the advance of reenforcements. 

This letter was hardly despatched to head- 
quarters, before Reed received a letter from 
Washington, dated December 2d, 1777, saying, 
"If you can, with any convenience, let me see 
you to-day; I shall be thankful for it. I am 
about fixing the winter cantonments of the army, 
and find so many and such capital objections to 



JOSEPH REED. 393 

each mode proposed, that I am exceedmgly 
embarrassed, not only by the advice given me, 
but in my own judgment, and should be very 
glad of your sentiments on the matter without 
loss of time." A letter was also received from 
General Cadwalader, expressing anxiety as to 
the selection of winter quarters, and soliciting his 
presence at head-quarters. 

Reed lost no time in repairing to camp, which 
he reached in time, not only to influence the 
decision as to winter quarters, but also to have a 
share in the last action of the campaign. On 
the 5th of December, 1777, Howe moved out of 
Philadelphia in full force, to attack Washington's 
army, and make good the boast of driving it 
beyond the mountains. The next morning, the 
American army was under arms and prepared for 
battle, when General Irwin was ordered, on the 
first approach of the enemy, to march to Chestnut 
Hill. At the foot of the hill, a sharp skirmish 
took place, when the militia gave way, leaving 
Irwin wounded upon the field, and in a few min- 
utes a prisoner. At another part of the lines, 
Reed and Cadwalader were, at General Washing- 
ton's request, observing the movements of the 
enemy, when a considerable force advanced rap- 
idly upon the Pennsylvania militia under General 
Potter. The two voUmteer officers assisted him 
in drawing up his troops, who gave way, how- 



394 AMERICAN! BSOORAPHT. 

ewer, and were thrown into disorder by a fine 
firam the enemy, who were presBing oa. 

Finding a number of the soldiers willing to 
place themselves under his command, Reed 
rallied a sufficient body to advance upon the 
enemy with a favorable opportunity of flanking 
one of their parties ; but the first impression 
could not be repaired, and the next fire put them 
to flight again, leaving Reed on the field. His 
horse, receiving a musket ball in the head, fell 
under him, and, while he was extricating himself 
from his dying horse, and recovering from the 
fell, a party of the enemy were seen by Captain 
Allen McLane, of the Delaware troops, running 
towards him with fixed bayonets. <j«neral Reed 
was indebted for his life, on this occasion, to the 
promptness and gallantry of a Maryland light- 
horseman, who, seeing his danger, rode rapidly 
up, and carried him off on his horse ; McLane, 
at the same time, ordering a charge which drove 
the party back.* 

After considerable skirmishing, the British force 

• In a letter, of the 7th of December, General Armstrong, 
writing with the sympathy of an old soldier for the loss of 
aims and accoutrements, says, " Yesterday, General Reed, 
leading some of our militia, with whom he fell in when 
reconnoitring, had his horse shot through the head, lost one 
of his pistols, saddle, and bridle, which he was obliged to 
leave with his dead horse, himself hairing a narrow escape." 



JOSEPH BBBO. 

was drawn off, and soon, to the great surprise 
and disappointment of Washington and his ch- 
eers, marched back into Philadelphia. ^' Their 
avowed intention in coming out," writes Reed, 
«< was to attack the army. This induced the 
General to make a disppsition adapted to their 
design, and it was with great concern we found 
they relinquished it, as I have not the least doubt 
but, with the smiles of Heaven, we should have 
gained. a complete victory. His Excellency ex- 
pressed the strongest inclination to attack them, 
as soon as it was known they would not attack 
us ; but his principal officers were utterly opposed 
to it, as the enemy lay too little a time in one 
place to give a knowledge of their situation, or 
make a dispositi<Mi for such an attempt I think 
more enterprise in our army would be acceptable ; 
but I must say, in justice to the Commander-in- 
chief, that there has been such a unanimity of 
opinion against every offensive movement pro- 
posed, as would have discouraged an older and 
more experienced officer than this war could yet 
produce." 

Reed was present at the closing scene of the 
campaign, when, on the night of the 10th of 
December, the army broke up its camp at White- 
marsh, and took up its line of march for the 
west side of the Schuylkill. When two divisions 



396 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

had crossed the river, the enemy unexpectedly ap- 
peared on the neighboring hills, a detachment, as 
it was ascertained, of four or five thousand men, 
under Lord Cornwallis. It was thought by some 
of the general officers a favorable opportunity to 
attack the enemy thus, detached, and they pro- 
posed immediately crossing the river for the 
purpose. With this opinion Reed earnestly con- 
curred, and deplored that a successful and 
destructive foraging expedition should have been 
accomplished in sight, as it were, of the whole 
American army. It was the last military question 
of the campaign, and the proposal for the attack 
was not sustained, but the army crossed the 
Schuylkill, and, on the 17th of December, estab- 
lished its winter quarters at Valley Forge. 



JOSEPH SEED. 397 

CHAPTER X. 

Reelected to Congress. — Commissioner for Indian 
Affairs. — Committee to go to Camp, — Valley 
Forge, — Prevalent Disaffection in the Neigh- 
borhood of Philadelphia, — Refugee Officers, — 
Defence of Persons and Property from their 
Attacks, — - Reed^s Letters on the Subject. — 
Takes his Seat in Congress. — Returns to 
Valley Forge. — Arrival of British Commis- 
sioners. — Governor Johnston. — Mrs. Fergur 
son. — Attempt at Bribery, — Reed^s Answer. 
— Battle of Monmouth^ — Return to Con- 
gress, — Professionally engaged in Trials for 
Treason, 

Such was the active interest which Reed, as a 
volunteer, took in the operations of the campaign 
in Pennsylvania, that he did not join the delega- 
tion in Congress at all under his election of Sep- 
tember, 1777. But just at the close of the 
campaign, a new election took place on the 10th 
of December, when he was again chosen, Frank- 
lin and Robert Morris being in the same dele- 
gation. 

During his absence from Congress, the organi- 
zation of a new board of war had been discussed, 
and his name was proposed in connection with 



d9d^ AMJ&RlCAIf BfOGRAPHY. 

it. In October, Richard Henry Lee wrote to 
Washington, " The business of a board of war 
is so extensive, so important, and demanding such 
constant attention, that Congress see clearly the 
necessity of constitbting a new board out of 
Congress, whose time shall be entirely devoted to 
that essential department. It is by some warmly 
proposed, that the board shall be filled by the 
three following gentlemen, Colonel Reed ; Colonel 
Pickering, the present Adjutant-General ; and 
Colonel Harrison, your secretary." The expecta- 
tion of Reed's continuance in Congress caused 
the sdbstitution of General Mifflin in his stead, 
w4ien the appointmtnt of the board was made. 

A Kttle later, during his absence at camp, 
Congress appointed him a commissioner for In- 
dian affairs on the western frontiers of Pennsyl- 
vania. The object of this commission was to 
concert measures with General Hand, then at 
Fbrt Pitt, for the pacification of the disaffected 
Infdians, and the reduction of the British post at 
Detroit. Mr. Reecf declined the appointment, 
and George Clymer was elected. 

The sufferings of the Americans during the 
winter of 1777-8, in their cantonments on 
the Schuylkill at Valley Forge, have been often 
d«escribed; but the just and painful impr^sion 
r^eerred from the narrative of them is best con- 
iiMned by an examination of the orderly book% 



JOSEPH RSED. 899 

which, being^ the daily record of the occurrences 
of the camp, show most minutely the extent and 
severity of the destitution and distress of various 
kinds that were endured, and the difficulty of 
preserving discipline and subordination in such 
circumstances. In Washington's long and feel- 
ing letter to Congress, of the 23d of December, 
representing the condition of the army, he urgedi 
that two or three members of the newly consti* 
tuted board of war, and a committee of then- 
own body, should be sent, without delay, to camp, 
to concert with him measures for the next cam- 
paign. In January a committee was appointed, 
having Mr. Dana for its chairman, and Mr. Reed, 
who had not left the ana»y to take his seat in 
Congress, for one of its members. 

The committee repaired to camp, and entered 
with great energy upon their arduous and almost 
hopeless task, which was nothing less than the 
reform and reestablishment of the army. The 
personal experience which Reed had had, during 
this and former campaigns, of defects and abuses 
in the organization of the army, inspired him with 
especial zeal in providing remedies for them, and 
in removing some of the difficulties which his mili- 
tary companions were laboring under. He exert* 
ed himself with untiring assiduity on the business 
of the committee, and seven reports in his hand* 
writing are presenred among^ tfe ardums oC G^siv- 



400 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

gress, all of much interest, and among them one 
for the reorganization of the Quartermaster's 
department, which led to the important appoint- 
ment of his friend General Greene to the chai^ 
of that branch of the service. The value of 
Reed's services at camp, and a natural reluctance 
to separate himself from those he had been asso- 
ciated with during the whole of the active part 
of the campaign, occasioned his remaining at 
Valley Forge, after his colleagues on the com- 
mittee returned to Congress, and, in fact, with 
intermissions only for a day or two at a time, 
during the remainder of the winter. He, in 
this way, became a sharer in the miseries of 
those destitute and suffering winter quarters. 

Besides the special duties of the committee, 
another subject appears to have occupied much 
of Reed's thoughts while in camp. When the 
army was withdrawn up the Schuylkill to the 
winter quarters, there was much solicitude as to 
the unprotected condition of inhabitants in the 
country nearer to the city, who were well afiected 
to the American cause. With the enemy in pos- 
session of Philadelphia, and with their successes, 
the disaffected became more confident, and in- 
creased in numbers to an alarming extent. The 
homes of those who were faithful to the cause 
of their country, as soon as the army retired from 
their neighborhood, would be left exposed to the 



JOSEPH REED. 401 

double danger of injury from the enemy and from 
the disaffected. In the whole district around the 
city there were many, some openly and some 
covertly, who were vigilant to serve the British 
interests, and to furnish intelligence, provisions, 
and facilities of every kind. During the earlier 
part of the campaign Reed had observed indica- 
tions of this danger, and of the probable inter- 
course between the disaffected and the enemy. 
On one occasion, when reconnoitring in com- 
pany with Cadwalader, they were informed, by a 
person who mistook them for British troopers, 
that Generals Reed and Cadwalader were some- 
where in the neighborhood, and might be taken. 
Immediately on the close of the campaign, when 
it was found impracticable to leave, as had been 
proposed, a brigade of Continental troops, to 
cover and protect such of the inhabitants as 
would be in danger. Reed wrote to the President 
of the Executive Council of the state, represent- 
ing the necessity of some provision being made. 
" The situation of the country, from Delaware to 
Schuylkill, is very distressing, and calls aloud for 
attention and help from some quarter. I fear 
the chief Whig inhabitants must fly. If the 
state will raise a few troops for the winter, for 
the purpose of covering the country, I should 
think it a happy measure ; and, though I have 
given over thoughts of proceeding further in the 
rou. vjiL 26 



402 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

military line, I would, for so desirable an end, 
accept of any post or office wherever I could be 
useful. I shudder at the distress of the inhab- 
itants, who must either submit or suffer much 
hardship." 

These apprehensions were realized ; for, during 
the occupation of Philadelphia, not only was the 
treasonable intercourse with the enemy carried 
to a great extent in the way of furnishing sup- 
plies to the British troops, but the inhabitants of 
the neighborhood, for many miles round, were 
harassed by regularly formed predatory bands, 
under several refugee officers, who acquired an 
odious notoriety in this service. An irregular 
warfare, of a most atrocious kind, was carried 
on, for the purpose of the surprise of defenceless 
persons, and the plunder or devastation of un- 
protected ^operty. The roofless and blackened 
walls of burnt dwelling-houses, along the roads 
leading into the city, showed the extent of this 
inhuman system of hostilities. In February, Mrs. 
Reed writes to one of her friends, "It has already 
become too dangerous for my husband to be at 
home more than one day at a time, and that sel- 
dom and uncertain. Indeed, I am easiest when 
he is from home, as his being here brings dan- 
ger with it. There are so many disaffected to 
the cause of their country, that they lie in wait 
for those who are active in it." 



JOSEPH REED. 403 

Gouveroeiir Morris, who had been added to tlie 
committee at camp, writes to Mr. Jay, '< The 
free, open, and undisguised communication with 
Philadelphia debauches the minds of those in its 
vicinage with astonishing rapidity." And Gen- 
eral Washington, after referring to what he styles 
'* this pernicious intercourse," adds, " If any of 
the persons engaged in it are proper objects to 
make examples of, it must be done. They have 
had sufficient warnings, and cannot, therefore, 
plead ignorance in excuse of their crime." 

If Reed had, at the beginning of the cam- 
paign, foreseen these evils, he was not less earn- 
est to withstand them, now they had come to 
pass, and while he saw around him the destitu- 
tion and the misery of the half-clad and half- 
fed soldiers at Valley Forge, in dismal contrast 
with the condition of the troops of the enemy, 
comfortably quartered in city dwelling-houses, 
and abundantly supplied by the treasonable com- 
munication of the disaffected neighbors. He 
again wrote to President Wharton, from camp, 
" The intercourse between the country and the 
town has produced all the consequences foreseen 
by many in the beginning of the winter. The 
supply of provisions, to recruit and refresh our 
enemies, I count the least pernicious. The minds 
of the inhabitants are seduced, their principles 
tainted, and opposition enfeebled. A familiarity 



404 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

with the enemy lessens their abhorrence of them 
and their measures. Even good Whigs begin to 
think peace, at' some expense, desirable. The 
currency, for twenty miles round the town, stag- 
nates ; the hope of getting to market with their 
produce induces them to keep it back, and deny 
they have it." 

After suggesting various restrictions on inter- 
course on any pretext with the city,* be urged 
the formation of a special corps of militia for 
this service, adding, " Infantry alone, I fear, would 
not be equal to the duty ; but this might soon 
be remedied, as I am sure there are a number 
of young fellows of reputation, that would soon 
form a corps to act in conjunction* with the 
foot. The enemy have formed a corps of coun- 
try light-horse, under one Jacob James, which 
ha& already been very mischievous, and will be 
more so. No person conspicuous in civil and 
military life, not with the army, or at a great 
distance, will be safe, if some body of the same 
kind is not raised for the protection of its citi- 
zens. Horse and foot should act together, to be 
efficacious ; and you may depend upon it the 
Continental horse and militia foot will not har- 
monize. That you will come into this, after 
some time, I have no doubt; but, if you delay 
it, I have no doubt, in the course of this spring, 
you will lose some of your best citizens. This 



JOSEPH REED. 405 

has been the case in New Jersey, some of the 
members of whose legislature are now languish- 
ing in the jails of New York. Fifty men, with 
a proportion of good officers, will be quite suf- 
ficient." 

The magnitude of the evil called for tlie action 
of Congress, in the preamble and resolution of 
the 26th of February, setting forth that persons 
had associated for the purpose of seizing, and 
secretly conveying to places in possession of the 
British forces, such of the loyal citizens and sol- 
diers of the United States as might fall into 
their power, which had, in some instances, been 
accomplished by the assistance of parties fur- 
nished by the enemy ; and resolving, that any 
person guilty of such combination, or any assist- 
ance to it, should suffer death by the judgment 
of a court-martial. It was also proposed, by a 
committee, as a mode of putting a stop to the 
atrocities that were perpetrated, that Congress 
should authorize the employment of warlike In- 
dians, to patrol the country round Philadelphia, 
and cut off the intercourse. 

Mr. Reed's stay at the camp at Valley Forge 
prevented his taking his seat in Congress till the 
6th of April ; and, on the 11th, he received leave 
of absence, for the purpose of removing his fam- 
ily to. a place of greater security than Norring- 
ton ; this having become the mote \iie,w\xfe^\i\. 



406 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

upon him from the precarious health of his wife, 
for whom, with her children, flight was again be- 
come necessary; and a residence was taken in 
the northern part of New Jersey. 

In June, Reed again repaired to camp, in con- 
sequence of a resolution of Congress, which 
transmitted to the Commander-in-chief a plan of 
military organization, with authority to proceed, 
" with the advice and assistance of Mr. J. Reed 
and Mr. Dana, or either of them," to arrange it 
Reed appears to have been the member of the 
committee who proceeded to head-quarters on 
this duty, which occupied him during the re- 
mainder of the time spent by the army at Val- 
ley Forge. 

Before the army left that post, where their stay 
was protracted as late as the month of June, 
1778, intelligence was received of the arrival of 
the British commissioners. Lord Carlisle, Mr. 
Eden, and Governor Johnstone, accompanied by 
Dr. Adam Ferguson, the historian, as the secretary 
of the commission.* They reached Philadelphia 
on the 6th of the month ; and, in a few days, two 
letters were forwarded to General Reed at camp, 
one from his brother-in-law, Mr. De Berdt, and 

* Frederick, fifth Earl of Carlisle, known afterwards I8 
Lord Byron's guardian; William Eden, afterwards Lord 
Auckland; and George Johnstone, a commander in the roysl 
navy, and, at cue toft, Go^erosst ^l "Sasflv. I'lotida. 



JOSEPH REED. 407 

the other, enclosed in it, from Governor John- 
stone, both written in London. When, in 1776, 
Lord Howe came out as the first commissioner, 
Mr. De Berdt had taken a personal interest, by 
conference with him, and by correspondence with 
his American relative, in the attempt to bring 
about a reconciliation. 

His disappointment, on that occasion, did not 
discourage him from renewing his efforts to re- 
store amicable relations, when the second com- 
mission came out, in 1778 ; and he flattered 
himself with the hope of some harmonious re- 
sult, from the fact that one of the commission- 
ers, Governor Johnstone, had been an active and 
steady opponent, in the House of Commons, of 
Lord North's administration, and obtained, by 
his speeches, the character of being a friend of 
America. Sincerely and reasonably entertaining 
this opinion, Mr. De Berdt was anxious to im- 
press Mr. Reed with it, and wrote, assuring him 
that Johnstone went to America as a commis- 
sioner of peace, and a steady and proved friend 
to America and its just rights ; and that, on con- 
ference with him, he had learned that every thing 
short of total independence would be granted ; 
that the election of the governors and legislatures 
in America should be complete ; that the paper 
money should be funded and secured by Great 



408 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Britain ; and, in short, all causes of dissatisfaction 
removed. 

The letter from Governor Johnstone to Gen- 
eral Reed, received at the same time, was plau- 
sibly and dexterously composed. It was highly 
complimentary to Reed, and expressed not only 
decided approbation of the original principles 
and conduct of American resistance, but unre- 
served condemnation of the " folly and the 
faults," as he styled them, of the ministerial 
policy ; employing, in his letter, the same tone 
of opinion as he had used as an opposition mem- 
ber on the floor of the House of Commons. 
After some professions of anxiety to restore har- 
mony between the two countries, and some re- 
flections upon the magnanimity of a conciliatory 
spirit on the part of America, he added, towards 
the close of the letter, "The man who can be 
instrumental in bringing us all to act once more 
in harmony, and to unite together the various 
powers which this contest has drawn forth, will 
deserve more, from the King and the people, 
from patriotism, humanity, friendship, and all the 
tender ties that are affected by the quarrel and 
reconciliation, than ever was yet bestowed on 
human kind." He concluded by saying, that he 
should endeavor to make such use of the com- 
munication which Mr. De Berdt's introduction 



JOSEPH R£j:p. 409 

might give him with General Reed, as the an* 
swer to his letter might enable him. 

After reading the letter. Reed placed it in the 
hands of General Washington, and some of the 
gentlemen at head-quarters. The draft of an 
answer he communicated to Robert Morris, one 
of his colleagues in the Pennsylvania delegation, 
who happened to be in camp ; and, finding that 
it was approved by him, he took the further pre- 
caution of submitting it to the judgment of 
Washington, who returned it, with the sugges- 
tion of some verbal alterations in the compli- 
mentary part of the answer. These corrections 
being made, the letter was written, and, being 
again shown to Washington, and approved by 
him, was left at head-quarters, to be forwarded to 
Governor Johnstone. This letter never reached 
its destination, having miscarried, probably, in the 
confusion arising from the breaking up of the 
encampment at Valley Forge, and . the evacua- 
tion of Philadelphia.* It was a courteous and 
decided reply to. a complimentary communica- 
tion from one, whose parliamentary course had 
placed him among the British advocates of the 
colonial cause. On the subject of the recep- 

* The original letter from General Reed to Govenuw 
Johnstone is now in the possession of Mr. Peter Force, of 
Washington, editor of the " American Archives." 



410 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

tion of the commissioners, and the prospect of 
negotiation, being a member of Congress, he de- 
clined expressing any opinion, as " equally useless 
and improper,'' in anticipation of the action of 
that body. This official reserve did not, how- 
ever, prevent his going on to say, with great can- 
dor, to the commissioner, that, after the series 
of ministerial injuries and insults, a negotiation 
under the auspices of the men who then directed 
the affairs of Britain had much to struggle with ; 
and he further intimated, that it might be the 
dictate of true wisdom and virtue, for the ministry 
to abandon a visionary scheme of conquest and 
empire, and look rather to the solid benefits of 
amity and commerce with independent America. 
Not receiving General Reed's answer. Gov- 
ernor Johnstone, who appears to have charged 
himself with the secret service of the commis- 
sion, proceeded to take another step in the way 
of indirect negotiation, by writing, on the 16th 
of June, to Robert Morris, a letter in which he 
ventured upon the following more unequivocal 
paragraph. "I believe the men who have con- 
ducted the affairs of America incapable of being 
influenced by improper motives. But in all such 
transactions there is risk ; and I think that who- 
ever ventures should be secured, at the same 
time that honor and emolument should naturally 
follow the fortune of ihoae, who have steered the 



JOSEPH BEED. 411 

vessel in the storm^ and brought her safely into 
port. I think that Washington and the Presi- 
dent (Mr. Laurens) have a right to every favor 
that grateful nations can bestow, if they could 
once more unite our interests, and spare the 
miseries and devastations of war. I wish, above 
all things, to see you, and hope you will so 
contrive it." 

The evacuation of Philadelphia was at this 
time on the point of being made, and the com- 
missioners were about to retire from the city 
with the army. Johnstone saw, therefore, that 
the prospect of the personal interviews he was 
desirous of with either Morris or Reed was very 
uncertain, and appears to have become impa- 
tient of the danger of disappointment in his 
plans. An opportunity presented itself to him, 
in an acquaintance which he formed in the house 
that was appointed for his residence during his 
stay in Philadelphia. A visitor to the family to 
whom the house belonged was Mrs. Elizabeth 
Ferguson, an American lady, married to Mr. 
Hugh Henry Ferguson, a loyalist, and at the 
time commissary of prisoners. Mrs. Ferguson 
was a daughter of Dr. Graeme, colonial collector 
of the port of Philadelphia, and granddaughter 
of Sir William Keith, one of the proprietary 
Governors of Pennsylvania. She was a lady 
highly esteemed, not only from het fam\Vj ^!«a- 



412 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

nection, but for her intelligence and accomplish- 
ments, and the active benevolence of her dis- 
position. 

Her position was such as to make her the ob- 
ject of respectful consideration by individuals on 
both sides of the pending contest; and, though 
her husband held office under the crown, her 
feelings were decidedly inclined to the Ameri- 
can cause. Residing in the same house for sev- 
eral days together, Governor Johnstone and Mrs. 
Ferguson had repeated conversations on the sub- 
ject of public affairs, in the course of which, he 
succeeded in impressing her mind with a confi- 
dence in his desire to accomplish a reconcilia- 
tion, and to put an end to the war. In the last 
of these conversations, which took place on the 
same day that he wrote the letter to Mr. Mor* 
ris, he took occasion to express the strong wish 
he had for an opportunity of having some com- 
munication with Reed and Morris, as men of 
influence in Congress, in addition to which, he 
went on to *say, that Reed possessed, he un- 
derstood, much influence with Washington, and 
of that influence he particularly desired to have 
the benefit ; it being expedient, on such occa- 
sions, to apply to as few persons as possible. 
There remained but one step more, which was 
to induce Mrs. Ferguson to undertake the com- 
mission of commun\c^X\u^ to General Reed the 



JOSEPH REED. 413 

offer which was shortly after made to him, and 
in this he succeeded, by removing her scruples 
by assurances that such a method of proceeding 
was quite customary and allowable in the con- 
duct of negotiations. 

On the 18th of June, the British army evac- 
uated Philadelphia. It had been publicly known 
for some time, that their retreat was in prepa- 
ration, and the inhabitants were ready from day 
to day to return. Reed, having sent the letter 
he received from Governor Johnstone to Con- 
gress, then in session at Yorktown, came into the 
city the same evening, where he found, as he de- 
scribed it, a new and curious scene ; some gloomy 
countenances, but more joyfulness; shops shut 
up, and all in great anxiety and suspense. Gen- 
eral Arnold was immediately put in command 
of the city, under strict injunctions, from Con- 
gress and the Commander-in-chief, to protect 
property and peaceable individuals, and to sup- 
press every species of persecution, violence, or 
abuse. These orders were carried into execu- 
tion, and no disturbance of any kind occurred. 

On the 21st of June, at General Arnold's 
quarters, a letter was handed to General Reed, 
which he found to be a request from Mrs. Fer- 
guson for a private interview with him, the sub- 
ject referred to in the letter being the business 
then pending in the Pennsylvania Assembly re- 



414 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

specting her husband's citizenship and allegiance. 
An appointment was made by him to wait upon 
the lady in the evening, when the interview took 
place. After conversing upon the business men- 
tioned above, the conversation turned to the Brit- 
ish commissioners, their business and characters. 
Mrs. Ferguson, mentioning her residence in the 
same house with Governor Johnstone, whom she 
described as a gentleman of great abilities and 
address, went on to inform General Reed that 
Governor Johnstone had expressed great anxiety 
to see him, and particularly wished to engage 
his influence to promote the object of the com- 
mission, a reunion of the two countries ; that 
government would take a favorable notice of 
influence so exerted, and that he might have 
ten thousand pounds sterling, together with any 
ofl[ice in the colonies in his Majesty's gift. The 
proposal was explicit, and communicated by ex- 
press authority. Reed found an answer was ex- 
pected, and it rose promptly to his lips in these 
memorable w^rds, the simple utterance of in- 
dignant and incorruptible integrity, 

"I am not worth purchasing; but, such as I 
am, the King of Great Britain is not rich enough 
to do it." 

"When," says Mrs. Ferguson, in her narra- 
tive of these transactions, "I came to the most 
interesting part of the conversation, General 
Reed gave hia aiiswet m\!tvQV)\. \v^%\\3&.iioii " 



JOSEPH BEED. 416 

The interview with Mrs. Ferguson occurred 
on the evening of Sunday, the 21st of June, and 
the next day Reed joined his friend, Colonel 
Stephen Moylan, who, with a party of cavalry 
under his command, crossed into Jersey, for the 
purpose of following the British army, and rec- 
onnoitring on their rear. With the intelligence 
gained by this detachment respecting the move- 
ments of the enemy and the course of their re- 
treat. Reed passed on and rejoined Washington, 
who, with the main body of the army, crossed 
into Jersey, at CoryelPs Ferry, above Trenton. 
He remained with the army as a volunteer un- 
til after the British army was overtaken at Mon- 
mouth, on the 28th of June, in which battle he 
was actively engaged, and again had a horse 
shot under him. 

After sharing in the battle which closed the 
hostilities in the region of Pennsylvania and New 
Jersey, Reed returned to Philadelphia to resume 
his seat in Congress. To General Washington, 
and two or three of his other nv>st intimate 
friends, he communicated the fact of the attempt 
of the British commissioner to exercise a corrupt 
influence; but from giving greater publicity to 
the transaction he was restrained by an unwill- 
ingness to expose Mrs. Ferguson to the risk of 
popular resentment, and also by a feeling of 
modesty in proclaiming the manner in which the 



416 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

offer had been rejected by him. These consid- 
erations were, however, overpowered by a sense 
of duty, which led him, on the 18th of July, a 
few days after he resumed his seat, to lay the 
Vhole subject before Congress, withholding only 
the name of the lady. The name afterwards 
became known, and Mrs. Ferguson, early in the 
following year, prepared and published a sworn 
narrative of the transaction, in which a sense of 
her own incautiousness in suffering herself to 
participate in it, did not prevent her doing full 
justice to truth and to the integrity on which 
corruption had made a vain attempt. 

The communication to Congress of Governor 
Johnstone's letters to Morris and Reed, and of 
the circumstances of the interview with Mrs. 
Ferguson, resulted in the declaration and reso- 
lutions adopted on the 11th of August, in which 
the commissioner's communications were de- 
nounced as direct attempts to corrupt and bribe 
the Congress, and in which it was resolved, 
" that it is incompatible with the honor of Con- 
gress to hold any manner of correspondence 
or intercourse with George Johnstone, Esq., es- 
pecially to negotiate with him upon affairs in 
which the cause of liberty is interested." 

In the summer of this year, Mr. Reed was 
elected a member of the Supreme Executive 
Council of the state of Pennsylvania, to supply 



JOSEPH REED. 417 

a vacancy, but did not take his place, in conse- 
quence of being in the delegation in Congress, 
where he continued till the month of October, 
at which time he gave his resignation. His 
attendance in Congress had been much inter- 
rupted by his military services, notwithstanding 
which, he bore an important part in the labors 
and duties of the committees, and in the discus- 
sions in the Congress of 1778, of which he, 
with Francis Dana and Gouverneur Morris, was 
among the most prominent and influential mem- 
bers. His name appears among the signers of 
the Articles of Confederation. 

Soon after the evacuation of Philadelphia, the 
General Assembly of Pennsylvania, desirous of 
securing the effectual administration of justice, 
especially with reference to the treasonable in- 
tercourse which had been carried on to so great 
and injurious a degree with the enemy while in 
possession of Philadelphia, recommended to the 
Executive Council of the state the employment 
of able counsel, to be associatect with the At- 
torney-General, Mr. Sergeant, in the prosecution 
of the public offenders. Mr. Reed was selected 
by the Executive Council; and during the las* 
months of his connection with Congress, in 1778, 
he was also occupied in the faithful and fear- 
less discharge of this arduous professional duty 
VOL. VIII. 27 



418 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



CHAPTER XL 

Hected President of Pennsylvania. — Reekcied. 
— Politics of the State. — Prosecution cf Ar* 
nold. — Difficulties and Measures of the Ai* 
ministration. — Abolition Act. — Death of kit 
Wife. — Revolt of the Pennsylvania Lane. — - 
Retirement from Office. — Visit to England. — 
Return to America. — Election to Congress.-^ 
Death. 

In October, 1778, General Reed was Reeled 
by the people a member of the Supreme Ex- 
ecutive Council of the state of Pennsylvania; 
and on the 1st of December, by the unanimous 
vote of both branches of the state govemmeot, 
he was elected President. He was reelected 
annually during the whole constitutional term of 
three years, and retired from the office in Oc- 
tober, 1781. 

His election was an important incident in the 
history of the state. Nowhere had the traii«- 
tion from colonial to independent existence beei 
as violent as in Pennsylvania. At the time of 
the declaration of independence, and even later, 
a large and influential party of loyalists had 
tbwarted, and, to the full extent of their ability, 
perplexed, the Tiio\Qm^w\a of the patriots. Be- 



J08CPH 11EE.D. 419 

Bides, the pacific discipline and principles of Ike 
Cluakers added a passive element of opposition 
to the popular impulses. The frame of govern- 
laent, which the exigency of revolution created, 
was not such as to command the approval of 
considerate men even on the popular side, and 
aet a few arrayed themselves decidedly against 
it Two parties, Constitutionalists and Anti-Con- 
stitutionalists, sprang into existence ; and so vio- 
lent and acrimonious did the controversy become, 
that open collision was with some difficulty re- 
pressed. When separation from the mother 
country became a settled thing, by a natural 
transition, the loyalists and disaffected enlisted 
themselves with the Anti-Constitutional party, 
aod displayed an active sympathy with the feel- 
ing of hostility to the government which the 
revolution had created. 

During the administration of the first Presi- 
d^it, Mr. Wharton, this party warfare continued 
with an intensity of feeling that was scarce kept 
in bounds by the imminent danger from with- 
out, on the approach of the enemy in the winter 
of 1776, and the actual invasion in the follow- 
ing year. Reed's absence at camp during this 
period saved him from any participation in this 
lieated controversy, and enabled him, on his re- 
turn from military service, to take a liigher po- 
flkion, and one, too, of more beneficent influence 



4S0 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 

tlAn could well be attained by any of the angry 
political disputants around him. In his letters 
from camp, he adverted to the politics of Penn- 
sylvania only in the way of remonstrance against 
the prosecution of a controversy which he regard- 
ed as dangerously inopportune, at a time when 
the pressure of the war presented every reason 
for the union of all strength against the common 
enemy. He sought to dissuade all, whom his 
opinion might influence, from what he deplored 
as an unwise and unseasonable distraction of the 
power of the state. 

At the same time, the deliberate judgment 
of his well balanced mind was adverse, clearly 
and unequivocally so, to the Constitution of 
1776. In declining the oflSice of Chief Justice, 
which was conferred on him in 1777, he frankly 
expressed the belief, that, unless amended, ^^ the 
government would sink in spiritless languor, or 
expire in a sudden convulsion." But, with this 
clearly expressed opinion, he never mingled the 
obstinate and exclusive prejudices which were in- 
dulged in by many of those who thought as he 
did of the Constitution, and which engendered 
a virulent and factious opposition to the admin* 
istration of it. There was nothing to prevent 
him from giving an honest and cordial support 
to the government during the crisis of war at 
their very thresholds, relying upon the wisdom 



JOSEPH REED. 421 

of more tranquil times for the amendment of 
its defects. 

Both the friends and the enemies of the Con- 
stitution united in promoting General Reed's ele- 
Tation to the chief magistracy, which was ac- 
cepted, in the hope of reconciling the discordant 
parties in the state. To his military companions, 
it was the source of unmingled pleasure. Gen- 
eral Greene wrote from camp, in all the cordial- 
ity of gratified friendliness, "Nothing can give 
me greater pleasure than Reed's appointment to 
the presidency ; and what heightens the pleasure 
is, that every body is expressing their approba- 
tion." The Commander-in-chief, who felt most 
sensibly his dependence on the state executives, 
and looked to Pennsylvania with peculiar solici- 
tude, wrote equally strong language of congratu- 
lation. They all seemed to feel, and the result 
justified their confidence and hope, that the ex- 
ecutive authority of Pennsylvania, administered 
by one who had been a soldier of the nation, 
would become vigorous in their behalf. 

The history of the three years of Reed's life, 
from 1778 to 1781, is the history of Pennsylva- 
nia, and, as such, must be very briefly disposed 
of in a work intended for general American biog- 
raphy. Reserving, therefore, a full account of 
liis administration for a more enlarged memoir. 



432 AMERICAIf BlOeRAPHT. 

a few only of the most important of Pennsylva- 
nia events can be noticed here. 

It is to the honor of this administration, that 
it was the first to rebuke and bring to justice 
the corrupt practices of Arnold. The particu- 
lars of his prosecution, for malversation in office 
during his command in Philadelphia, have al- 
ready been given in another part of this series ot 
biographies, and need, therefore, only be alluded 
to now.* The course pursued by President Reed 
and the Executive Council showed at once both 
great energy and self-reliance, and, considering 
the obstacles thrown in the way of the prosecu- 
tion, indomitable perseverance in accomplishing 
the purposes of justice. Arnold was enjoying a 
large popularity for his military services, and was 
countenanced and sustained by a considerable in- 
fluence in Congress; besides which, his connec- 
tion in marriage allied him with the still power- 
ful loyalists of the city of Philadelphia. 

President Reed was not, however, deterred by 
this combination of formidable influences in ar- 
ray against the measure which the Council origi- 
nated; but, relying on Washington's high sense 
of justice and official responsibility, he felt as* 
sured that no misdirected sympathy would avail 

* Sparks's " life and Treason of Arnold," ^^ntrium Bi- 
ography, Vol. m. 



JOSSFR BBED. 

a public offender, if vigorously and fearlessly 
prosecuted. To the military sympathies of Wash- 
ington Arnold appealed in vain ; but^ in a letter 
which he wrote from camp, while awaiting hia 
trial, he dared grossly to misrepresent the feeling 
shown to him at head-quarters. ^^Let me beg 
of you," he said, in a familiar letter, "not to 
suffer the rude attacks on me to give you one 
moment's uneasiness. They can do us no in- 
jury. I am treated with the greatest politeness by 
General Washington and the officers of the army, 
who bitterly execrate Mr. Reed and the Council 
for their villanous attempt to injure me." 

On the discovery of Arnold's treason, the let- 
ter in which this sentence occurred fell into the 
bands of the Executive Council, in consequence 
of the seizure of some of his papers ; and Pres- 
ident Reed at once called the attention of the 
Commander-in-chief to the offensive opinion at- 
tributed to him by Arnold. Washington's an- 
swer was prompt and explicit. "I cannot," he 
wrote, " suffer myself to delay a moment in pro- 
nouncing, that, if Arnold, by the words, in the 
letter to his wife, ' I am treated with the great- 
est politeness by General Washington and the 
officers of the army, who bitterly execrate Mr. 
Reed and the Council for their villanous attempt 
to injure me,' meant to comprehend me in the 
latter part of the expression, he asserted an ab- 



434 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

solute falsehood. It was at no time my inclina — 
tion, much less my intention, to become a party" 
in his cause ; and I certainly could not be so 
lost to my own character, as to become a parti- 
san at the moment I was called to bring him to 
trial. I am not less mistaken, if he has not ex- 
tended the former part of the paragraph a little 
too far. True it is, he self-invited some civilities 
I never meant to show him, or any officer in 
arrest ; and he received rebuke before I could 
convince him of the impropriety of his entering 
upon a justification of his conduct in my pres- 
ence, and for bestowing such illiberal abuse as 
he seemed disposed to do upon those he denom- 
inated his persecutors. Although you have done 
me the justice to disbelieve Arnold's assertion 
to his wife, a regard to my own feelings and 
character claims a declaration of the falsehood 
of it from, dear Sir^ your most obedient and af- 
fectionate, &c." 

Satisfied of the truth of the charges on which 
Arnold was arraigned, and of their ability to sus- 
tain them, the President and Council insisted 
upon their demand for justice, until, after mani- 
fold and vexatious delays, Arnold was brought to 
trial before a court-martial, and, by its judgment, 
found guilty, and sentenced to be reprimanded 
by the Commander-in-chief. In his defence, he 
concentrated all his malignity against the Exec- 



JOSEPH REED. 425 

utive Council, and especially against President 
Reed. No terms of recrimination were too vio- 
lent for his use»; and it was on this occasion that 
the slanderous insinuation had its appropriate 
origin, that Reed contemplated, at one time, a 
desertion to the enemy. At the very moment 
that this was uttered, when Arnold was boasting 
of his own patriotism and fidelity, and impeach- 
ing those of another, he had been, as is now well 
established, at least eight months in secret cor- 
respondence with Sir Henry Clinton, and was 
maturing the dark scheme of treachery which he 
soon afterwards attempted to carry into execu- 
tion. It may be claimed as an honor to the 
memory of President Reed, that Benedict Arnold 
was his accuser. 

To such legislative and executive interposition 
as the exigency of the times in Pennsylvania re- 
quired. President Reed appHed himself with char- 
acteristic energy. His official and private cor- 
respondence attests his untiring exertions under 
difiiculties and embarrassments such as needed 
a high order of statesmanship to encounter and 
overcome. At one time, he wrote to General 
Armstrong that there was not money enough in 
the treasury to meet a ten pound draft. His 
energy appears never to have abated ; and the 
result was, that Pennsylvania was foremost among 
the states in fulfilment of duties to the common 



436 AMERICAir BIOSRAPHT. 

cause; and the ability of his admimstration was 
shown in the increased power and arailable r^ 
sources of the state, and the efficiency of its mil- 
itary force. 

The grievance of an unrelenting party opposi* 
tion to his administration he appears to have 
lamented, chiefly as being detrimental to the 
public welfare. "I should be happy," he said, 
^* if the dissatisfied would defer their resentment, 
till the removal of the enemy left them no other 
objects than thdr own countrymen." The char- 
acter of his administration was, however, not 
lowered to any mere temporizing policy of con* 
ciliation, but was carried on in the spirit of an 
intrepid as well as sagacious statesmanship. In 
a publication made by President Reed towards 
the dose of the first year of his administration, 
when he had experienced the full force of the 
opposition, he said, "While there is a British 
soldier left in arms in these United States, not 
all the efibrts of party, secret or open, poverty 
or danger, shall induce me to relinquish the sta- 
tion in which public confidence has placed me, 
and in which I can best oppose the views of the 
common enemy. When these dangers are passed 
away, I care not how soon I fall into the rank 
of a private citizen, a station better suited to my 
talents and inclination." 

Amid the difficulties of Us administration 



JOSEPH REED. 4S7 

Reed received friendly and earnest encourage- 
ment from Washington, who appears to have 
sympathized, too, with him in his estimate of the 
opposition which was laboring to embarrass the 
measures of the state. 

"I am aware," wrote Washington to him, in 
1780, "of the embarrassments the government 
labors under from the open opposition of one 
party, and the underhand intrigues of another. 
I know that, with the best dispositions to pro- 
mote the public service, you have been obliged 
to move with circumspection. But this is a 
time to hazard, and to take 'a tone of energy 
and decision. All parties but the disaffected 
will acquiesce in the necessity, and give their 
support. The hopes and fears of the people at 
large may be acted upon in such a manner, as 
to make them approve and second your views. 

"The matter is reduced to a point. Either 
Pennsylvania must give us all the aid we ask of 
her, or we can undertake nothing. We must re- 
nounce every idea of a cooperation, and must 
confess to our allies that we look wholly to them 
for our safety. This will be a state of humilia- 
tion and littleness against which the feelings of 
every good American ought to revolt ; yours, I 
am convinced, will. Nor have I the least doubt 
that you will employ all your influence to ani- 
mate the legislature and the people at large \ ibA 



428 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

fete of these states hangs upon it. God grant we 
may be properly impressed with the consequences! 

"I wish the legislature could be engaged to 
vest the executive with plenipotentiary power. I 
should then expect every thing practicable from 
your abilities and zeal. This is not a time for 
formality or ceremony. The crisis is, in every 
point of view, extraordinary; and extraordinary 
expedients are necessary. I am decided in this 
opinion. 

" I am happy to hear that you have a prospect 
of complying with the requisitions of Congress 
for specific supplies ; that the spirit of the city 
and state seems to revive, and the warmth of par- 
ty to decline. These are omens of our success. 
Perhaps this is the proper period to unite. 

"I am much obliged to you for the renewal 
of your assurances of personal regard. My sen- 
timents for you, you are too well acquainted 
with to make it necessary to tell you, with how 
much esteem and regard I am, dear Sir, your 
most obedient and affectionate humble servant." 

The nature of this memoir admits only of a 
brief reference to but two of the'' important legis- 
lative measures during this administration. The 
first to be noticed is that, by which remuneration 
was secured to the soldiers of Pennsylvania, 
whose services were generously rendered, and 
whose blood was freely shed, during the war. It 



JOSEPH REED. 439 

is well known with what difficulty provision, in 
the shape of a retiring pension, was made to the 
Continental soldiers, and in spite of what vexa- 
tious obstacles Congress at last, in 1778, voted 
a meagre allowance of half-pay for seven years. 
In the spring session of 1780, the Pennsylvania 
Assembly acceded to the recommendation by 
the executive, and passed a law for the more 
effectual supply and honorable reward of the 
Pennsylvania troops in the service of the United 
States, by which half-pay was secured to every 
officer and soldier during life. The good effect 
of this provii^ion was at once manifest. " Penn- 
sylvania," wrote Washington to Congress, " main- 
tains her officers in a decent manner. She has 
given them half-pay for life. What a wide dif- 
ference between their situation and that of the 
officers of every (Jlher line of the army, some of 
whom are actually so destitute of clothing as to 
be unfit for duty, and are, for that cause only, 
obliged to confine themselves to quarters ! " 

The other law alluded to was the act by 
which slavery was abolished in Pennsylvania. 
This may be considered as an event of national 
interest; and the honor of it belongs to Presi- 
dent Reed's administration, and peculiarly to the 
Executive Council, where the measure originated 
by his influence. It was repeatedly urged upon 
the legislature, by executive messages and in ^^ 



43D AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

•onal conferences, until, on the 1st of Marcliy 
1780, the law entitled '' An Act for the gradtMl 
Abolition of Slavery" was enacted, and adorns 
the statute-book of Pennsylvania, as the first legis* 
lative abrogation of involuntary servitude by the 
mdependent states of America; the first law 
enacted, in any part of Christendom, for the abo- 
lition of African slavery. A draught of the bill 
was communicated to the Assembly by tbe £z- 
ecotive Council, and the following preamble is 
believed to have been from tbe pen of President 
Reed. The fine spirit of a thoughtful and com- 
prehensive humanity, which it breathes, jhas been 
the subject of high and deserved praise. 

"When we contemplate our aUioirence of 
that condition to which the arms and tyranny 
of Great Britain were exerted to reduce us; 
when we look back upon th# variety of dangers 
to which we have been exposed, and bow mi- 
raculously our wants, in many instances, have 
been supplied, and our deliverance wrought ; 
when even hope and human fortitude have be- 
oome unequal to the conflict; we are unavoid- 
ably led to a serious and grateful sense of the 
manifold blessings, which we have undeservedly 
received from the hand of that Being, from whom 
every good and perfect gift cometh. Impressed 
with these ideas, we conceive that it is our duly, 
aod we Tejoice that it is in our power, t» ei- 



JOSEPH REED. 431 

tend a portion of that freedom to others, which 
hath been extended to us, and release them from 
that state of thraldom to which we ourselves were 
tyrannically doomed, and from which we have 
now every prospect of being delivered. It is 
not for us to inquire why, in the creation of 
mankind, the inhabitants of the several parts of 
the earth were distinguished by a difference in 
feature or complexion. It is sufficient to know, 
that all are the work of an almighty hand. We 
find, in the distribution of the human species, 
that the most fertile as well as the most, barrea 
parts of the earth are inhabited by men of com- 
plexions different from ours, and from each other; 
from whence we may reasonably, as well as 
religiously, infer, that He, who f^ced them in 
their various situations, hath extended equally 
his care and protection to all, and that it be- 
eometh not us to counteract his mercies. We 
esteem it a peculiar blessing granted to us, tha/t 
we are enabled this day to add ooe more step 
to universal civilization, by removing, as much 
as possible, the sorrows of those who have lived 
in undeserved bondage, and from which, by 
the assumed authority of the kings of Great 
Britain, no ^ectual legal relief could be ob- 
tained. Weaned, by a long couree of experi- 
ence, from those narrow prejudices and partial- 
ities we had imbibed, we find oar faeai^ «iGlax^b&. 



432 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

with kindness and benevolence towards men of 
all conditions and nations ; and we conceive our- 
selves, at this particular period, extraordinarily 
called upon, by the blessings which we have 
received, to manifest the sincerity of our pro- 
fession, and to give a substantial proof of our 
gratitude. 

" And whereas the condition of those persons, 
who have heretofore been denominated Negro 
and Mulatto slaves, has been attended with cir- 
cumstances, which not only deprive them of the 
common blessings that they were by nature 
entitled to, but has cast them into the deep- 
est afflictions, by an unnatural separation and 
sale of husband and wife from each other, and 
from their children, an injury, the greatness of 
which can only be conceived by supposing 
that we were in the same unhappy case ; in 
justice, therefore, to persons so unhappily circum" 
stanced, and who, having no prospect before them 
whereon they may rest their sorrows and their 
hopes, have no reasonable inducement to ren- 
der their service to society, which they other- 
wise might, and also in grateful commemoration 
of our own happy deliverance from that state 
of unconditional submission, to which we were 
doomed by the tyranny of Britain," &c. 

During the years 1779 and 1780, when the 
military movements of both the American and 



JOSEPH REED. 433 

British armies were involved in great uncertain- 
ty, and when Washington was struggling with 
the difficulties of deficient supplies and reen- 
forcements, his correspondence with President 
Reed shows how much he relied upon the sym- 
pathy and support of one, who had been his 
companion in arms during the most gloomy pe- 
riods of the early campaigns. 

"The Council," wrote Reed, in 1779, "are 
resolved to pursue vigorously your advice, to be 
prepared for the worst ; and should it be neces- 
sary to call forth the militia of the state, I shall 
think it my duty to partake their dangers and 
fatigues." 

" Your intention," was Washington's reply, 
"of leading your militia, in case they can be 
brought into the field, is a circumstance honor- 
able to yourself and flattering to me. The ex- 
ample alone would have its weight ; but, second- 
ed by' your knowledge of discipline, abilities, ac^ 
tivity, and bravery, it cannot fail of happy efiects. 
Men are influenced greatly by the conduct of 
their superiors, and particularly so, when they 
have their confidence and affection." 

In 1780, an extraordinary mark of confidence 
-was shown to the executive of Pennsylvania. 
In view of the dangers, which were clouding 
2x>und the American cause, the legislature in- 
Vested the Council with power to dedaie m^\e\ 
VOL. VIII. 28 



434 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

law, and to assume dictatorial autliority. In the 
month of August, on the arrival of the French 
fleet and reenforcements on the coast, President 
Reed, putting himself at the head of the new 
levies of militia, marched from Philadelphia, in 
order to aid in the movement on New York, 
then contemplated by General Washington. An 
encampment was formed at Trenton, and the 
best spirit of subordination and desire for active 
service were manifested ; but Washington found 
himself obliged, in consequence of difficulties in 
effecting cooperation with the French troops, to 
recommend to President Reed to break up his 
camp, and order the militia to their homes. 

Immediately on his return from this short tour 
of military duty. Reed suffered the most afflict- 
ing domestic bereavement that could befall hira, 
the death of a wife, who had so truly shared the 
adversity of his life. Of ten years of their mar- 
ried life, this firm and gentle-hearted woman had 
witnessed the early and tranquil part succeeded 
by the dangers and the miseries of a war, that 
more than once made her an unprotected fugi- 
tive, with her young children, at the approach of 
the enemy. Trials, such as seldom fall to a 
woman's lot, were endured with a patient and 
placid heroism, which never failed to cheer her 
absent husband in the path of duty ; and it was 
sad that years oi ^ncXv ^SBkXiow were not crown 



JOSEPH REED. 435 

ed with the happiness of beholding the cause, 
for which they had been encountered, triumph- 
ant, and amity restored between her native and 
adopted countries. These years of ?inxiety and 
suffering, though meekly and firmly borne, had 
been doing their work upon a constitution nat- 
urally delicate, and now too much enfeebled for 
the exertions of a public service which she was 
unwilling to decline. 

The destitute condition of the soldiers in 
Washington's army had awakened a desire, on 
the part of the women of Philadelphia, to relieve 
their wants by a subscription, to be chiefly ap- 
plied, under the advice of the Commander-in- 
chief, to the purchase and preparation of cloth- 
ing. The wife of President Reed was selected 
as an appropriate person to preside over the 
efforts that were made, and to conduct the cor- 
respondence with Washington. She, undertook 
the duty she was called to, but it was too soon 
after a recent illness, and she fell a sacrifice to 
her patriotic exertions. Esther Reed died in 
September, 1780, at the early age of thirty-four 
years; and it was with reference to the cause 
she spent her last strength in, that Washington, 
writing to Philadelphia not long after her death, 
spoke of the benevolent oflSce which added lus- 
tre to the qualities that adorned her character. 

The year 1781, the closing year of Mt. B^;&&*% 



436 AMERICAN BIOGBAPHT. 

administration, continued to be agitated by high 
party excitement, which was accompanied with 
a factions malevolence, that some time before had 
led, in its excess, to a popular disturbance, at- 
tended with loss of life. The unanimous reso- 
lution of the General Assembly acknowledged 
the exertions of the President of the state, and 
gave him the thanks of the House for his spirited 
and prudent conduct on the occasion, in sup- 
pressing the disorder and restoring obedience to 
the laws. 

An event of considerable interest, in connec- 
tion with Pennsylvania affairs, occurred in the 
beginning of that year, when, on New Year's 
night, the whole Pennsylvania line in the Con- 
tinental army broke into open revolt, and set at 
defiance all attempts of their officers to reduce 
the mutiny by force or conciliation. By request 
of the officers, and under the appointment of 
the Executive Council, together with authority 
from Congress, President Reed and General Pot- 
ter proceeded to the scene of difficulty at Prince- 
ton, and succeeded in making a settlement of 
the mutiny. The causes of the revolt, the cir- 
cumstances which attended it, and the terms on 
which the mutineers returned, cannot be dwelt 
on in a limited memoir like this, which admits 
only the general statement, that the measures 
adopted by President Reed and General Potter 



JOSEPH BKED. 487 

were justified and approved by the public author- 
ities, which had committed to them the difficult 
duty. 

Reed, having served in the presidency of the 
state for the complete term for which he was 
reeligible, retired from office in October, 1781 ; 
his public career, as one of the men of the rev- 
olution, closing in the same month in which the 
war was virtually ended by the surrender of the 
British army at York town. In the following 
year, an important professional duty of a public 
nature was confided to him, when, with James 
Wilson, Jonathan D. Sergeant, and William 
Bradford, he was chosen to represent the state 
of Pennsylvania, as counsel, in conducting the 
Wyoming controversy with the state of Con- 
necticut. After elaborate arguments before the 
Court, which was held at Trenton, judgment was 
given in favor of Pennsylvania. 

In the winter of 1784, Reed made a third 
visit to England, partly on business interrupted 
by the war, but chiefly for the restoration of 
health, grievously impaired by the toils, and pri- 
vations, and solicitudes, to which, with a con- 
stitution never robust, he had been exposed, with 
scarce an intermission, from the beginning of the 
revolutionary struggle. It was a visit after a 
lapse of fourteen years, and under circumstances 
Df course greatly changed. After an ab«e.w<2j^ ^i 



438 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

about nine months, he returned to America ; and, 
soon afterwards, he received the last of that long 
list of public honors and trusts, which were 
conferred upon him. He was elected to Con- 
gress by the state of Pennsylvania, at a time, 
too, when an adverse party controlled the po- 
litical action of the legislature. The condition 
of his health, which had not been benefited by 
his voyage, prevented his taking his seat in Con- 
gress. During the winter, the rapid decline of 
his health confined him to his house, and, on 
the 5th of March, 1785, he breathed his last, 
at his residence in Philadelphia. He had not 
completed his forty-third year; an early and 
premature death, it might be called, were it not 
the close of a life so active and eventful. 

Among those, who watched by Reed's dying' 
bed, was his favorite student, James A. Bayard, 
afterwards a distinguished citizen of a neighbor^ 
ing state. General Reed was buried in the burial 
ground in Arch Street, belonging to the Pres- 
byterian church, of which he had been a faithful 
and dutiful member. On his tomb is the fol- 
lowing inscription, written by one, who, to just 
observation of his public career, united an inti- 
macy with the excellence of his character in its 
private and domestic relations ; his valued friend, 
William Bradford, afterwards Attorney-General 
of the United States, during the first presidency 



JOSEPH HEED. 439 

This memoir may be appropriately and worthily 
closed with these words of sepulchral eulogy, 
from the heart of one of the purest and ablest 
of those men, who were summoned by Wash- 
ington to the councils of his administration. 

"In Memory 

Of the virtues, talents, and eminent services, of 

General Joseph Reed, 

Bom in the state of New Jersey, on the 27th of August, 

174*. Z 

He devoted himself to the pursuit of knowledge, and 
early engaged in the study of the law. By his erudition, 
judgment, and eloquence, he soon rose to the highest em- 
inence at the bar; but at the call of his country, forsak- 
ing every private pursuit, he followed her standard into 
the field of battle, and, by his wisdom in counsel and his 
conduct in action, essentially promoted the revolution in 
America. 

Distinguished by his many public virtues, he was, on 
the 1st of December, 1778, unanimously elected President 
of the state. Amidst the most difficult and trying scenes, 
his administration exhibited the most disinterested zeal and 
firmness of decision. 

In private life, accomplished in his maimers, pure in 
his morals, fervent and faithful in all his attachments, he 
was beloved and admired. 

On the 5th of March, 1785, too soon for his country and 
his friends, he closed a life, active, useful, and glorious.** 



THE 



LIBRARY 



OP 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



CONDUCTED 
tr JARED SPARKS. 



VOL. XVIII. 



BOSTON: 
CHARLES C. LITTLE AND JAMES BROWN. 

1848. 



Entered according to act of.CdngrMs, In the year 1846, by 

Chablsi C. Littls Afro Jamxi Bkown, 

in the Clerk*t office of tbe District Court of the District of Massachnsetti. 



ITXRaOTTraO AT THI 
BOtTOir TTPB AND ITSRBOTTm POUITDBT. 



432 AMERICAN BIOORAPHT. 

with kindness and benevolence towards men of 
all conditions and nations ; and we conceive our- 
selves, at this particular period, extraordinarily 
called upon, by the blessings which we have 
received, to manifest the sincerity of our pro- 
fession, and to give a substantial proof of our 
gratitude. 

" And whereas the condition of those persons, 
who have heretofore been denominated Negro 
and Mulatto slaves, has been attended with cir- 
cumstances, which not only deprive them of the 
common blessings that they were by nature 
entitled to, but has cast them into the deep- 
est afflictions, by an unnatural separation and 
sale of husband and wife from each other, and 
from their children, an injury, the greatness of 
which can only be conceived by supposing 
that we were in the same unhappy case ; in 
justice, therefore, to persons so unhappily circum- 
stanced, and who, having no prospect before them 
whereon they may rest their sorrows and their 
hopes, have no reasonable inducement to ren- 
der their service to society, which they other- 
wise might, and also in grateful commemoration 
of our own happy deliverance from that state 
of unconditional submission, to which we were 
doomed by the tyranny of Britain," &c. 

During the years 1779 and 1780, when the 
military movemeuls of both the American and 



JOSEPH REED. 433 

British armies were involved in great uncertain- 
ty, and when Washington was struggling with 
the difficulties of deficient supplies and reen- 
forcements, his correspondence with President 
Reed shows how much he relied upon the sym- 
pathy and support of one, who had been his 
companion in arms during the most gloomy pe- 
riods of the early campaigns. 

"The Council," wrote Reed, in 1779, "are 
resolved to pursue vigorously your advice, to be 
prepared for the worst ; and should it be neces- 
sary to call forth the militia of the state, I shall 
think it my duty to partake their dangers and 
fatigues/' 

" Your intention," was Washington's reply, 
"of leading your militia, in case they can be 
brought into the field, is a circumstance honor- 
able to yourself and flattering to me. The ex- 
ample alone would have its weight ; but, second- 
ed by" your knowledge of discipline, abilities, ac^ 
tiyity, and bravery, it cannot fail of happy efiects. 
Men are influenced greatly by the conduct of 
their superiors, and particularly so, when they 
have their confidence and aflection." 

In 1780, an extraordinary mark of confidence 
was shown to the executive of Pennsylvania. 
In view of the dangers, which were clouding 
round the American cause, the legislature in- 
vested the Council with power to declBx^ xcvdx^^ 
VOL. viii. 28